


New beginnings

by Tony_Starks_biscuits



Series: New Beginnings [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Bisexual Tony Stark, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Clintasha - Freeform, Coming Out, F/M, Family Angst, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Howard Stark's Good Parenting, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, M/M, Maria Stark's Bad Parenting, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Some angst, Tags will be updated with story progression, Teen Bruce Banner, Teen Clint Barton, Teen Natasha Romanov, Teen Steve Rogers, Teen Tony Stark, There will be Stony, There will be Thorbruce, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is bisexual
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2020-10-29 02:04:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 53,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20788790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tony_Starks_biscuits/pseuds/Tony_Starks_biscuits
Summary: Tony Stark is sent to live with the father he barely knows for his senior year of high school. How will he adjust to his new life in Malibu?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story will have SO MANY chapters! BUTTLOADS of chapters, so if you like it you’re in for a treat. This is by no means my most eloquent work, but I’ve been working this story for a ridiculously long amount of time and I’m SOOOO excited to finally publish it. Stick with me and see how it goes! Hope you enjoy! Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!  
***tags/characters will be added/edited as the story progresses

** _CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!_ ** The crowd growing around the table lined with red solo cups and shot glasses got louder and louder.

** _AYYYYYYE!!!_ **

Everyone went wild after Tony had downed the tenth cup, everyone incredibly impressed with his seemingly supernatural ability to hold alcohol.

"WHATS MY NAME??" 

“TONY STARK" 

The one they called “The Party King” drunkenly led the crowd of his peers in a chant as he climbed up on the table. 

Finals was Monday and the young man was nervous. He was practically a genius when it came to math and the sciences. He was an incredible engineer and had even built small machines and little robots.

But some of the other subjects he struggled in. Tony was anxious about the things he wasn't great at, so he coped by doing what he was best at,  _Partying_ . 

Tony jumped off the table, landing in a crouch before standing up and pushing his way through the mob. The heat from the partygoers mixed with the heavy smell of booze would be too much for most people, Tony wasn't one of them. 

He entered what appeared to be a living room. In the single chairs and throughout the dark room people lit and smoked cigarettes, while on the couches most of the couples were trying to get to second base. A speaker playing "My Sharona" shook the entire house. 

"Tony! There you are, I thought you'd be here" Tony turned around and saw none other than his ex girlfriend Pepper.

" _Virginia_ -" Tony started with a glare. "What are _you_ doing at a party? Isn't it past your curfew?" He jabbed. 

Pepper had been quite the goody two shoes when she and Tony had dated in the previous semester. She was one to stay home and study rather than go out with friends when a big test like this was around the corner. 

"Ok very funny-" she said rolling her eyes. "I heard Quill was throwing one of his 'famous' parties and I thought I'd come and see what all the noise was about" 

Tony leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms while simultaneously trying not to fall over again. "You never came to these parties when _I_ suggested we go."

"That was way different, I've already studied and I'm prepared for Monday...are you prepared for Monday?" she laughed. 

"Hell yyyeah I'm ready for Monday, gonna make Monday my bitshh." 

Pepper nodded in response. Tony hadn't changed a bit since they dated. She took a long sip from her cup, contemplating if her next move was a good decision. She decided that the clouds of smoke had clouded her judgement like it had the room they were standing in.

"Do you wanna dance?"

"moi?" Tony asked playfully putting his hand to his chest and prompting another eye roll from the girl.

"Yes, dummy" she said taking his hand and pulling him to the dance floor. At this point, some slow romantic Prince song was playing. 

Somewhere along the way he picked up another full cup. The last thing he remembered was slow dancing with Pepper.

*****

Tony woke up the next morning with a headache, but surprisingly not as bad as others he'd had before. The worst thing was how dry his mouth and throat was, he felt like he had swallowed a cactus. Almost coincidentally there was a glass of water on the night stand next to the bed. 

He reached over, downed the whole glass and laid down again rolling onto his back. He turned his head to the left and saw that familiar strawberry blonde hair. Tony's eyes widened. 

He decided the best thing would be if they both forgot about the night before. He quietly and swiftly sat up and pulled his legs over the side of of the bed. He pulled on his jeans and t shirt from the night before and stood up grabbing his shoes to take with him. 

Peppers bedroom door creaked as he tried to open it quietly.  _Damn it_ . He heard the voices of peppers parents downstairs in the kitchen he used to frequent. Her parents liked Tony but they probably wouldn't take too kindly to their daughters ex boyfriend leaving her bedroom. 

"My parents are down there-" the sleepy voice croaked from the bed. "You're...gonna have to go through the window" Pepper said with a yawn as she turned over, eyes still closed. "Just like old times" Tony muttered with a smirk. Pepper laughed quietly to herself as she heard the window open and the boy hop out. 

Tony landed on his feet in the grass on the side of the large house. He walked past the vibrant bed of flowers Mr. Potts had planted. Mr. Potts loved gardening and he had come outside to get an early start on it, he turned the corner of his home and ran slam into Tony who was occupied with turning on ”We Got the Beat” on his Walkman. 

The man startled him as he stopped and looked at Tony with puzzlement for a moment and then slowly looked up the side of the house to see Pepper’s bedroom window open, and then slowly looked back at Tony. 

“Heyyyy big guy...catch you later” Tony said, before darting past the man and sprinting down the street, leaving the angry man in his yard. 

The boy ran two blocks just to be safe. After he slowed down and caught his breath, he walked to the donut shop picking up half a dozen for himself. He considered it his hangover cure. 

He had a slow walk home, preparing himself for the lecture he'd soon receive from his mom.  _Your irresponsibility will not be tolerated, Tony. You need to shape up, Tony. If you don't quit your antics you'll be sent to boarding school, Tony._

Maybe she wouldn't be home he silently hoped. As he came up to the gate to the driveway of his home he saw the Mercedes parked in front of the steps leading to the front door. 

_Great_ .


	2. The News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria Stark breaks some life changing news to Tony.

_Crap, here we go I guess._

He pushed the front door open revealing two maids, one dusting and the other scrubbing the floor. The one dusting turned around to look at Tony.

"Your mother wishes for you to meet her in her study Mr. Stark."

"K" he responded licking the glaze off his fingers and reaching for another doughnut. 

He walked through the hall and knocked on the door to his mothers study before pushing it open with his butt since his hands were full. 

He offered Maria in her opinion, a truly repulsive sight. Jeans torn and too tight for her liking. A bananarama t shirt barely half tucked in. His vans were in good condition but that was it.

She could tell he was hungover from the way he looked, but after the party he didn't smell that great either. He had sunglasses on in the house, the wire from his Walkman was hanging from his back pocket, and he was eating yet another doughnut. After taking in the full view of her estranged son she finally let out a long, disappointed sigh.

"Marissa said you wanted me" he said in between bites.

"Tony, your behavior is nothing short of _repugnant_, your finals are on Monday and you spend your weekend partying? Are you even prepared for those tests?" 

Tony licked more glaze of his finger before responding "yep".

"Is _that_ supposed to convince me?" Maria responded coldly. 

Tony pursed his lips and gave a shrug keeping eye contact with his mom. He'd learned that she takes it as a challenge and he started doing it.

"Well Tony I'm not putting up with your drunken antics and your horrific party behavior any longer". 

Here comes the boarding school bluff speech.

"You can continue that lifestyle on someone else's time, but it won't be mine...After finals you'll be going to stay-"

"let me guess, _boarding school_" Tony scoffed. 

"With your _father_'' Maria finished briskly. 

Tony paused. His face crinkled in confusion.

Why would I move to Malibu, with my dad who I haven't spoken to since I was six? I don't even know him . 

"Wait are you joking?" Trying to hide the disbelief in his voice and maintain his front.

"I'm absolutely not, I'm not dealing with your behavior any longer. You have two parents and it's not fair that only one of us has had to deal with  _you_ . You'll stay with him for the summer and the entirety of your senior school year. You can wreak havoc on _his_ life for a year. You leave exactly a week from now, that should give you time to pack your things and say goodbye." 

Anger had overtaken to the point of being speechless. He had nothing to say so he tossed the empty donut box on the floor, turned around and went right out the door.

ONE WEEK LATER...

Tony tried to fall asleep in the car on the trip to Malibu but his mind was too busy playing back the last 24 hrs of saying goodbye to his friends, the nervous breakdowns, packing his bags. 

The image of him leaving the house without a word from his mom as she watched him walk to the car. 

His house fading out of view. And now him sitting in the back of a limo. Alone. As the car slowed down, he took a look out of his window and saw the home he'd be staying in. 

It was larger than his mothers house, but it had a round driveway like his own, and steps to the front door. 

He saw a beautiful swimming pool around the back of the house. They stopped right in front of the steps and the front door opened immediately.

A tall man in a sharp black and white suit came outside. He had a short, slicked back haircut.

Suddenly he had opened the door startling Tony. 

“There you are! My how you've grown, you're practically a man now! Goodness you look just like your father!" The man beamed.

Tony must've looked like a deer in headlights because the man slowed down for him.

"Did I startle you?" He asked trying to hide his amusement. 

"Uh... Uh yeah you did" Tony stuttered snapping out of his trance and sliding out of the car onto his feet.

"My apologies sir. Let me reintroduce myself. I'm-"

"Jarvis??" Tony asked, his face lighting up with hope and comfort.

"You remember me?"

"Kind of, yeah!" Tony replied as the butler pulled him into a tight hug. 

When Maria and Howard were together Jarvis served them both and was a close friend to Tony, but after the divorce Jarvis went to work for Howard. The boy had cried for weeks after he left. 

"Come, let me show you your room. Your father is over the moon about your arrival!"

_I highly doubt that. Why would he be? He hasn’t tried to see me since he left._

"Alright this is it!" Jarvis exclaimed. 

It was really nice. It was all white with a medium grey accent wall and grey accent pieces throughout the room. 

There was a large wide screen tv on the wall facing the king size bed. His bags were already in there from the car.

"Ill leave you to unpack your things, would you like me to let you know when your father gets back?" 

“Nah don't worry about it, thanks Jarvis." 

"It's my pleasure Sir...welcome home" He responded warmly before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. 

He took a seat on the bed and looked around. He was more nervous about meeting his father again than he would like to be. What would he say? None of the introductions he tried in his mind he liked.

_ I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it .  _

He got up and went out on his patio. It had a beautiful hillside view and he could even see part of the beach from there. 

_I could get used to this. _

He sat in the chair and laid back. He finally drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is off to a bit of a slow start but bear with me! Let me know what you think in the comments! Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!


	3. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is reunited with his father Howard.

Tony's eyes opened one by one as he awoke from his nap. The sun was setting over the ocean, it was nice to wake up to.

He checked his watch. 

_7:26 _

Howard was probably back by now. 

As he got up and turned around to go in his room, his  bedroom door opened and his father came into view. 

The mans hand covered his mouth that had dropped open. He then ran the hand through his thinning hair, overwhelmed with joy at the sight of his son. 

Tony pursed his lips and put his hands in his pockets. 

"Anthony!" The man started laughing and walking towards his son. 

“I can't believe you're here and it's you! Oh my god you look like me too, wow!! Very handsome" he laughed to himself before hugging him. 

Tony didn't know what to say, but he smiled and hugged the man the man back. Somehow it took him back to old times. Howard had been a great father before the divorce. Always there for Tony.

"I've missed you so much...I'm so sorry for _everything_.” He pulled his son in tight. For the first time in a long time Tony felt something. 

"Let's catch up-" his dad said pulling away from the hug but keeping his hands on Tony's shoulders.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"_Starving_" Tony responded. 

"Well let's go out then! Pizza?"

"Yeah sounds good"

"Great, hey you wanna drive??"

"Um _sure_?" Tony chuckled.

He hadn't seen his dad in eleven years and they were talking like it'd only been one. 

One thing Tony did remember about his father was his fathers car collection. Howard stark _loved_ the classics.

"Awesome, we'll take lois out for a spin!" 

He said patting his son on the back and gesturing to follow him.

"Have you had a chance to look around?" 

"Nah I fell asleep as soon as I got here."

"Well remind me to give you a tour of the place!" Howard exclaimed as they made their way into a spacious garage with what looked to be about eight cars, all but two of them classics. 

"Wow these are super nice!" Tony watched as his dad went to a mini vending machine on the counter against the backwall.

"Thank you! Collecting has been a hobby of mine for a while as you can probably tell. I'm thinking I'll stop at ten but... I said the same at five." 

Howard beamed as the keys came out of the slot. "Here ya go, be careful with her she's one of my new ones.” Howard said pointing to a shiny red Triumph TR6.

"Ok I will" 

"and don't exceed 70, she cuts off if you do.”

"Alright" 

" oh and there's a seatbelt missing in the back." 

"Ok can we get in now??"

"if you're ready" Howard cackled. 

Tony turned the key and put the car in drive. 

"Oh yeah I probably should have mentioned, between all the drivers Maria has, I don't do a whole lot of driving." 

They pulled off quicker than Tony intended.

"A LIGHT TAP A LIGHT TAP" Howard shouted between laughs.

"WELL I HARDLY TOUCHED THE PEDAL!!" Tony replied cracking up, repeatedly speeding the red sports car forward and stopping hard throwing them back and forth.

“Wait, have you ever driven at all?" Howard asked, tears of laughter rolling down his cheek. 

"My drivers Ed teacher got out if the car and wouldn't get back in..." Tony explained, trying to turn out of the driveway.

"Why don't you let me drive us to the restaurant until you've had..._proper training_" the father replied finally catching his breath. 

******

The pair sat in a booth by the window. By now the sun had set and the bright moon was reflecting off of shiny paint jobs the cars in the parking lot had.

Howard couldn't help but watch his son who was enamored by a Volvo parked outside. 

_He's really grown. Eleven years since I've seen the boy._ A pang of guilt hitting his chest.

"So-" he started, clearing his throat. "I know moving to a new city especially at the beginning of senior year isn't ideal for anyone. And then having to live with someone you haven't seen in...a long time is difficult-" 

Howard looked down at the table. Tony just stared out of the window.

"Honestly Anth- Tony, I'm ashamed of my at how long it's been since I've seen you. I should've come around more. After a while Iassumed you'd be better off with your mom." 

There was a pause before he continued. 

"I should've fought harder to see you, and now you've got a relationship with your mother and I'm a stranger to you. I sincerely apologize for that.”

Tony shifted uncomfortably in his seat before responding.

"Thank you...but what do you mean _fought harder? _You didn't really..._try_." 

"Tony I tried for _years_. You never wanted to speak to me."

"What are you talking about? All I _wanted_ was to talk to you?..and to see you." 

There was a long uncomfortable pause between the two. 

"When did you try to see me?" 

"I always called to speak to you but your mother always said you didn't wish to speak to me. I sent you letters and you never wrote back. I sent you one for your thirteenth birthday. After that I gave up. I finally came to the conclusion that you...really had moved on. And that you were doing better with your mother." 

Tony's eyes narrowed. 

"Maria never told me you called. Not _once_. And if you sent all those letters...I never got one of em." 

Howard put his hands up to his temples. 

"Never?" 

"_Never_...and I wasn't doing better with Maria...I’m not really her cup of tea." Tony said looking at the table.

"How is that so? The two of you were very close before the divorce. She loves you so much." 

Tony chuckled, but there was anything but humor behind it. He felt tears pricking his eyes from being so overwhelmed. 

"Doubt that. After you left things _changed_. She always blamed me for you leaving."He said looking down at his hands.

"What? She's always said the two of you were close." 

Howard said being hit with an intense wave of guilt.

"Yeah about as close as a cat to a dog. She's a bitter and angry, cold, and mean woman. Truly the works." Tony said. 

Howard could hear the hurt in Tony's voice despite his sarcasm. 

"She had definitely _changed_ after the divorce. But I didn't know she was taking it out on you son. If I had any way of knowing..." 

Howard stopped as he saw Tony hadn't looked up for a while, clearly holding back tears. 

"We can finish this another time...And you're safe with me." The man said, extending his hand across the table and giving his sons hand an affirming squeeze. 

Tony looked up and nodded at his dad who was giving a weak smile. The two sat in comfortable silence until the pizza came and they enjoyed the rest of their evening together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you liking the story? Let me know in the comments! More chapters coming soon! Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!


	4. Enrollment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard learns some good and bad things about Tony.

Tony rolled over facing the alarm clock on the nightstand. 

_11:37 AM_ _. Too early_.

He laid back down when he heard a knock on the door which he didn't answer. The door opened slowly and his dad stepped in.

"Morning son, were you planning on waking up anytime today or should I come back _tomorrow_?" 

The man said chuckling at his own sarcasm. 

"It's _early_" he replied barely audible. 

"It's almost noon and we have things planned for today." Howard informed him as he walked to large window and pulled back the curtains allowing the bright sun to shine in.

"Like wha-AHH WHYD YOU DO THAT!!!" 

"Sunlight motivates us to get out of bed and be our best selves-" 

Tony rolled his eyes in the dark as he sought refuge under his covers.

"and i thought I'd take you by your new school to show you around and enroll you for this upcoming year. But the first order of business-" 

Howard threw the covers off of the boy. "Is to unpack these bags...and apparently get you some _pajamas_?" 

Tony had worn only his teenage mutant ninja turtle boxers to bed. 

"I didn't know they made underwear with children's tv characters for _adults_." Howard quipped.

"The ninja turtles aren't just for _kids_ they're for _everyone_ to enjoy." 

Tony responded clearly agitated with having to be up so "early", but getting out of bed anyway.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I _was_ sleeping well, very _comfortably_ if I may add" he grumbled as he scooted himself to the bathroom. 

The sight of Tony's clothes balled up and thrown into the suitcase served as a reminder that the son he loved so much had still been sent there against his will and would probably go home if given the choice. 

He began grabbing shirts and hanging them up in the walk in closet. 

"Hey i can do this by myself if you have other stuff to do don't worry about it" Tony said, re-emerging from the bathroom.

"I don't mind. I like some of these t shirts you have, Pink Floyd is a great band! You have really good taste" 

"Thanks...I was actually in a band for a while during sophomore year and we did a lot of covers of Pink Floyd."

"A band?! That's amazing, what do you play?" 

"Electric guitar and I play bass a little!" Tony said smiling as he went and unzipped his largest bag revealing two electrics and one bass. 

"I bought em myself." He said obviously proud of himself.

"That's amazing Tony-" Howard beamed coming over to look at the guitars. "What happened to the band?" 

Tony frowned. 

"Maria found out that I was taking part in non academic activities and she quickly put an end to that" 

It disappointed Howard that his son wasn't allowed to do the things he enjoyed. 

He put a hand on the boys shoulder. 

"Well I'd love to hear you play sometime." "Thanks" Tony said, a half smile returning to his face" 

It took almost another hour or two for the pair to unpack all of his belongings. 

They even hung his guitars on the wall.

******

The two of them had eaten lunch and were now headed to Tony's new school. 

Tony was less than excited. Another fancy private school to get suspended from every two weeks,  _great_ . 

"This is it" Howard said, pulling into the large parking lot of "Valleyside High School". 

Tony saw the sign and whipped his head around to see if he had misread it. 

He hadn't. 

"A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL???" Tony exclaimed in disbelief. 

"Yes? Is that... ok?" Howard asked slowly taken aback by Tony's reaction. 

Tony nodded, eyes wide. He’d never been to a public school, but after years with obnoxious prep school kids, he was _more_ than ready to make a switch.

They entered the building and walked down the hall. 

"Wanna see something?" Howard asked the boy who seemed bewildered by the revelation that he'd be attending public school. 

"Sure" 

Howard led them down another hallway and stopped in front of a large glass case labeled "_Notable Alumni, Howard Stark Jr."_

The case was filled with pictures of his father shaking hands with Professors and CEOs and other important people. It also held a plethora of trophies, medals, and certificates of achievement. However the main thing that surprised Tony was how young Howard was in all of the pictures. He had the same thin and muscular build, but his face had no lines of creases and his hair was still chestnut brown and not all white like he had now. 

_Class of 1935._

"Howard Stark Jr., Valedictorian." Tony read aloud.

"Howard Stark Jr. Makes technological breakthrough at 16 years of age, Howard stark jr. Develops cure for cancer at age 17-" Tony added the last one sarcastically, making his dad laugh. 

"Well I didn't get _that_ far but maybe you can figure it out." He replied ushering Tony to the superintendents office.**** 

"Mr. Stark, it's a pleasure to see you. This must be Anthony?" 

"Yes and he goes by Tony." Howard added with a smile. 

"Well Tony it's very nice to meet you, and we appreciate you taking Valleyside High into consideration. Let's get started shall we?" 

The superintendent said as she opened a binder. Her blond hair was in a slicked back bun like his mom always had. 

He decided he didn't like the woman. 

She raised her eyebrows and seemed to wince at whatever she was reading. 

"Oh my. Tony...it seems like you have _quite_ the ...reputation." She said cautiously.

"One of excellence I presume" Howard said with a nod.

"Mr. Stark, Tony's grades are excellent...but he has an _extensive_ reputation of consistent suspension and even _expulsion_." 

Howard's face turned up in confusion as he started stroking his mustache. Tony saw him out of the corner of his eye and started to get nervous. 

_Just when things were going great._

The superintendent kept reading.

"Anthony is an incredibly smart and bright student. However he constantly serves as a disruption when he disrespects teachers and administrators or distracts his peers with jokes and conversation. In addition to the listed behavior, Anthony is notorious for his party lifestyle and often shows up to class hungover from prior events, he also frequently uses expletives in class.-" 

Howard hadn't moved a muscle and Tony took that as a sign that his father wasn't happy with Tony's report.

"Tony is suspended frequently and has been expelled on three occasions." The superintendent decided to stop there. 

Tony _really_ didn't like her now. 

Howard cleared his throat after a short pause. 

"Well, that certainly is news to _me_. I'll be sure to have a talk with him about his behavior and I'm sure we shouldn't have _any_ problems during his time here" he stated firmly.

"Well thank you Mr. Stark, but I'd like to hear that from our _potential student_ as well-" the woman said facing Tony. 

"We'd love to have you Tony, having the child of such an achieved alumni would be an honor. But we won't tolerate this _behavior_, will you try to turn yourself around before this school year?" 

Tony took a long exhale out of his nose. "Yes ma'am" he obliged with a tight smile. 

"Wonderful, now that we've got _that_ taken care of let's get you enrolled.”***** 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard’s reaction to Tony’s behavior, plus a little family fluff at the end!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Hope y’all are enjoying the story, sorry for slow updates. Let me know what you think in the comments! Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!

The walk back to the car was awkwardly silent as Howard tried to figure out how to address the issue of his sons behavior. 

Howard got in the car and Tony slowly slid into his seat and buckled in keeping his face towards his window. 

He never really thought about what would happen if his father found out about how he acted back home, but he should have known that he'd find out _eventually_. 

The ride home was silent as well, making Tony more and more nervous about his fathers coming reaction. 

They pulled into the garage and Tony reached to unbuckle his seatbelt when Howard cleared his throat to get Tony's attention. 

The boy slowly put his hands back in his lap. 

_Damn, no escape now._

"Tony, I've had a wonderful time since you've come to stay with me. _A_ _ball_ _really_. Having my son back after all these years. Seeing how much you've grown. Seeing how smart you are and the wonderful young man you've become, has been incredible to say the least.-" 

_Here it comes, he's sending me back home. _

"You're smart, humorous, witty... an all around _wonderful_ boy." 

_Ok where is this going. Tony's heart was pounding in his chest._

"So when superintendent Clark...started listing all of those terrible things under your name it _truly_ was hard for me to believe. I can't wrap my mind around how someone so great is capable of such _offensive_ behavior-" 

Tony looked down at his lap while Howard stared straight ahead. 

"So since _I_ can't seem to understand, I need _you_ to explain to me why you've been acting out." 

W_hat do I even say? There’s not much else to do. I’m not good at sports, can’t play music anymore. All that’s left is school. Oh and my mother is garbage, and my father left when I was six. So there’s that. _

Tony thought for a while and responded after a long pause.

"I don't have an explanation for you... I'm sorry." He said quietly. 

Howard just nodded.

"_Interesting_. Well son, there won't be any of _that_ this year. I'd really like you to try and be a better student. You've got the potential to do great things, but you've got to apply yourself. I think it'd be best if we set some ground rules. But we can do that later. For now I'd like you to work on correcting your behavior. Ok?" 

His father kept a calm but firm voice, much different from Maria's biting tone.

"Yes sir" Tony replied looking at his dad who stared at him with sincerity in his eye. 

Howard's mouth turned back into a smile as he gave Tony a smack on the knee.

"Good. Now, it's hot out and there's a nice huge pool out back" he said getting out of the car as the two of them headed in the house.

*****

The hot sun beamed down on the two enjoying the pool outback. Howard was reading on the edge of a pool chair while Tony floated on his back. 

Jarvis brought out lemonade for the three of them to enjoy. He and Howard being the first to share the cold beverage, mingled quietly and laughed together quieting down when Tony finally got out of pool to get his drink. 

"What are you guys laughing about?" He asked innocently before downing the lemonade.

"Oh nothing _important_ sir." Jarvis responded.

"Must be some weird old man joke." Tony cracked sitting his drink down. 

As soon a he straightened back up he felt hands gripping him on both sides. 

"What the h- HEY PUT ME DOWN." Tony kicked and flailed as Howard and Jarvis yanked him up and chucked him in the pool.

The two roared with laughter as he reappeared from under the water.

"YOU GUYS ARE CRAZY” he shouted, making the pair laugh harder than before, while Tony looked on completely unamused.

"_Whatever guys_" he said rolling his eyes. 

"You two better watch your old man backs, they don't call me the prank king for _nothing_! And you two have it coming!" He warned. 

"And who calls you the _prank king_?" Howard asked cracking he and Jarvis up yet again. 

"_PEOPLE_" Tony yelled back before laughing with the two of them. 

"Well thanks for the warning sir, I'll be sure to look over my shoulder not once but _twice_ now that I know I'm in _such danger_!" The butler quipped, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"You too dad! Just because you're _old_ doesn't mean you're any less of a target!" Tony said slowly sinking himself under the water and staying under for dramatic effect. 

A smirk creeped up on Howard's face as he turned to Jarvis. "Two can play at this game..._Hide his towel.”_


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard lays some ground rules for Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so glad you guys liked the last chapter.  
I was literally going to delete the  
“hide his towel” part but I think it’s hilarious you all liked it. 
> 
> This chapter takes place the same day as the last one.
> 
> New chapter coming tonight

Tony was tuning his favorite red electric guitar when Howard knocked on his bedroom door. 

"Come in" Tony called out. 

He appreciated that his father respected his privacy enough to knock.

"Hey son, you doing alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine-" Tony said looking up at his dad who had a calm but serious expression. 

"Need somethin?" He asked respectfully. 

"Well-" Howard started as he took a seat across from Tony in the desk chair. "If you’d put that away, I’d like to finish our discussion from earlier.”

“Oh ok sure” Tony said cautiously. 

“Great. So, Since you’ve only been here for a couple days it just didn’t feel right to give you a laundry list of rules to follow. So for now I’ve just got three.”

“Ok” Tony nodded 

“My first rule is that there’ll be no drinking. You’re underage and not only is it illegal but it can also cause irreversible brain damage if you’re too young. It’s also not the best habit to get into. _I would know._”

Tony thought about it. It was doable.

“My second rule is that you have to pull at least a B in all of your classes. If you need extra help, a tutor or anything, that can be arranged.

My third rule is that you’ve got to pull your weight in chores. Since it’s only been me and Jarvis here, my cleaning staff only comes in twice a month. So you’ve gotta keep your room clean. Ok?”

Howard chuckled looking at Tony’s bewildered expression. 

Never in his life had he had rules so simple yet so challenging to follow nor did he ever _try_ to follow them. 

“Yeah, ok” he finally replied even though he was unsure about how well he’d be able to keep the rules.

“Great and there’s one more thing. They’ve got an empty intern spot at Stark Industries and I signed you up to take it. You’ll be working there starting Monday, until the end of the summer!” Howard exclaimed happily. 

Tony’s eyes widened. 

_Ok this is a little too far. _

Tony had never, _ever_ gotten an actual corporate job nor did he want one. 

“Oh uhhh...I’ve never _had_ a job soooo” tony said slowly, trying to change his fathers mind about the idea. 

“Well this will be a great place to start then! The information meeting is tomorrow morning at ten, so you’ll need to be up in time to be punctual. _Preferably before noon_” Howard teased. 

“Well I really don’t have any work clothes, so I don’t know if I-“

“Tony we have all weekend to get you some new stuff. Listen son, there’s a first time for everything and this is a great opportunity for you to gain some responsibility.” Howard insisted gently before a short pause.

“So there’s really no way to get out of this?” Tony smiled shyly.

“No-“ Howard laughed standing up and patting his son on the shoulder. “But you’ll be fine and you’ll do great! And I’ll be at the office early tomorrow so you’ve gotta wake yourself up. _Please_ get up on time son.” 

“_Ok ok,_ I will.” Tony laughed and grabbed his guitar again as his father headed out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony goes to the intern meeting and later makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up kids this ones a bit long! Hope you enjoy, let me know in the comments!
> 
> Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!

__

_BEEP BEEP BEEP_

Tony heard the alarm but just couldn’t open his eyes all the way. He peeked one eye open to look at the alarm clock. 

After the blur cleared the alarm clock read  _9:47_

The information meeting is tomorrow morning at ten, so you’ll need to be up in time to be punctual. Preferably before noon. 

“FUCK!!!” tony yelled

He quickly got out of bed and ran to his closet. The best he could find was a ‘Friends’ t shirt and a pair of jeans with no hole in the knee. 

He threw on his shoes and ran in the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. On his way out of his room he checked the clock again. 

_9:53_

He raced down the stairs and into the foyer where Happy was waiting.

“There you are, Howard told me to take you to the Stark Industries Headquarters for a meeting. _Oh my_-“ 

Happy looked at the disheveled boy. His hair stood up on his head and he barely looked awake.

“Alright well you’re late _enough_, let’s go” he finished and led them out the front door to the car.

*******

Tony all but jumped out of the car when the two of them arrived in front of the building. He checked the time on his watch as he ran through the glass doors. 

“Welcome to Stark Industries, you...must be here for the _intern meeting_” the receptionist guessed. 

“Yeah can you tell me where it is?” Tony asked trying to pull lint off of his shirt.

“Eighth floor, first door on the right. But the elevators make frequent stops, you’d do better taking the steps!” 

“_Ok_” Tony said trying to hide his whine. 

He pushed through the door to the stairwell and started his long trek as quick as he could. 

_Why am I even doing this? I don’t even wanna be here! I would never do this if Maria asked me to. _

He had worked up a little sweat when he got to the eighth floor. He quickly opened the door to the conference room that the meeting was being held in. 

All of the eyes shot on him. He would’ve blushed had his cheeks not been red from the run up.

“Good morning Tony, nice of you to join us 25 minutes _after_ the meeting began. Go ahead and take your seat.” The instructor said

He sat down and wondered how he knew his name already. Maybe it was on the roll list. 

After he caught his breath he took a glance around the room. Everyone had a binder with a notebook and a pen except him, and everyone was taking notes..._except him_.

“And this is another thing you’ll want to write down” the instructor said, all of the other interns immediately started jotting whatever he said down on the paper. 

Tony grabbed a stray sharpie off of the table and copied what was on the large whiteboard down on his bare arms. 

He had also noticed that all the other guys were wearing long sleeved button ups, some in slacks, some in jeans but everyone looked presentable.

Tony ran his had through his hair and realized he hadn’t even combed his hair on the way there.

_fuck_

****

At 11:30 the meeting finally came to an end. Tony didn’t feel overly prepared and excited like everyone else, but just barely qualified. 

Everyone packed up and started to leave, Tony was on his way out when the instructor asked him to stay for a chat. 

_So cliche_. 

Tony took a seat across from the man at the large table. 

“I’m Phillip Coulson director of marketing here at Stark industries. You...look like you had a _rough_ morning.” He chuckled. 

“Yeah I usually look a lot better than this. I told my dad this was a bad idea and he didn’t listen to me so can you like..._i don’t know_ write him a letter and say I’m not SI material? My name is Tony, his name is Howard-“ Tony’s desperate rambling only made the man laugh harder.

“Tony I know who your father is, and I know who you are...._everyone_ knows who you are! And even if I didn’t, I could guess bc you look just like him!”

“Oh, wonderful well can you still write that letter or?” 

“No I’m afraid I can’t, I was given _specific_ orders against that, but I can go over everything you missed at the beginning of the meeting.”

Coulson explained the ins and outs of Tony’s internship and gave him a piece of paper to write his notes down opposed to his arm. 

“Listen Tony, I think this internship will be really great for you, it might seem a little slow at first but I guarantee you this is a great place to start.” The man said with a smile as they stepped into the hall and headed towards the elevator. 

The elevator opened and the boy stepped in as they said their goodbyes. 

“And Tony, make sure to get some..._suitable_ work attire over the weekend?” 

The new intern gave a knowing nod as the elevator closed. 

Tony had told Happy not to bother picking him up and insisted he could walk home. And after sitting through that meeting, he really needed to get out. 

He walked for about fifteen minutes and found a street with a strip of oceanfront hotels. He could hear the crashing waves and smell the saltwater from the sidewalk. 

He walked down to the shore and picked a spot on the warm sand under a city provided umbrella. 

Moving to Malibu wasn’t something Tony wanted, but he sure could get used to the beach. He watched the large waves crash onto the sand and recede back to the dark, immeasurable body of water. 

He noticed kids running and wading through the water, some stayed on the shore building sandcastles and burying each other in sand. 

Tony had never done any of those things, he started to feel a swell of disappointment as he watched the children laugh and play together, reminding him that he was without company. 

Back home Tony had very few close friends, just party accomplices and the lonelier Tony got here in Malibu , the more he missed partying and finding trouble with his friends. 

Though his father gave him so few rules, the new job in addition to those had Tony feeling anxious. This new life of responsibility was starting to get difficult. 

So far Tony had handled the situation well, but his stress and anxiety was starting to catch up with him.

“What is it about the beach that makes you think so hard?” He thought as he drifted off to sleep under the umbrella. 

******

Tony woke up when the sun was setting on the ocean. Surprisingly he hadn’t burnt up. He sat up in the chair and looked around, there were certainly less people here than earlier.

He slowly stood up and stretched. He noticed the boardwalk was all lit up. He could see rides going up and could hear the faint screams of the people when the ride went down. 

He decided he would check it out. He walked up to the sidewalk and headed that way. When he arrived he realized the place was a lot bigger than he thought. 

He strolled through, taking note of all the food and gift shops, and decided to take a peek in a surf shop. 

When he walked in it smelled like ocean and cologne.

“Welcome to Ralph’s surf shop, where quality meets value” a voice echoed from the side of the store where the register was located. 

A blonde haired guy leaned forward on the counter flipping through a magazine.

“Thanks” Tony responded, taking a look around. He ran his hand across the surface of a board designed with a topless mermaid on the underside. 

He moved on to another one with a bonsai tree design covering the top. 

_Man these are tacky. _

Tony moved on to look at the clothes and jewelry. He found necklaces made of fake shark teeth and puka shells. 

After looking at all the cheap store had to offer, Tony went to the drink case, grabbed a coke and headed to the checkout counter. 

The blonde employee looked up and put his magazine aside and moved to the cash register. “Will this be all?” The guy asked flatly. 

“Yeah” 

The guy chuckled and sighed.

“Am I missing something?” Tony asked genuinely confused. 

“It’s just funny how we’re a surf shop and no one ever buys our surf stuff, most people just come in for drinks and sunscreen. Maybe the occasional souvenir.” He smiled. 

Tony read his name tag. _Clint_. 

“Well no offense but the stuff is kind of _cheap_” Tony said looking around and then focusing back in on the employee. 

“It’s _value_-” Clint rolled his eyes and scoffed humorously, prompting a laugh from from Tony. 

“-and besides we aren’t like the other _hoity_ _toity_ surf shops around here, where else can you go to get a necklace made of plastic seashells when there’s a beach full of real ones right outside?” 

Tony laughed and shook his head, taking his soda back from the cashier “You got me there I guess.” 

“Yeah but we’re notorious for having the crispest sodas in Malibu!” Clint added excitedly. 

“In Malibu? That’s kind of an _extensive_ claim don’tcha think?” 

“Ah I thought the same thing until I tried a soda out of that case! Try it!” 

“...ok” tony replied skeptically as he opened the bottle. 

Clint watched as he slowly raised the bottle to his mouth and took a sip, and then as his eyes widened and he began to choke. 

Clint roared with laughter as Tony tried his best to catch his breath, gripping onto the counter for support. 

“CRISPY RIGHT?” Clint said between laughs. 

“CRISPY? WHAT THE HELL IS IN THIS THING? ACID?” Tony shouted as he continued to choke and wretch, sending Clint who was already holding his side into another laughing spell. 

“Is..is it _expired_? What’s? This can’t be coke?” Tony said holding his burning nose. 

“ehh you’ll get used to it champ-” Clint replied still chuckling as he grabbed a ring of keys and came from around the counter. 

“We’re closed now but if you’re not busy do you wanna go eat somethin?”

“I actually gotta get home-“ Tony said noticing that it was pretty dark outside. 

“Besides I think my stomach melted from the poison you forced me to drink. Rain check?” 

Clint laughed and rolled his eyes. “Oh you just _wimped out_, and yeah come by another time, I’m sure I’ll be here.”

“I didn’t wimp out I was ambushed, and I’ll come by sometime this weekend. I’m Tony by the way.” 

“Nice to meet you Tony, see you around”

Tony nodded and turned to head back home. He checked his watch. It was 8:45.

_ Hopefully Howard and Jarvis aren’t looking for me. _

Luckily he remembered the way back to Stark Industries. Once he got to the front gate of SI he tried to remember his way home. 

_Was it a right on sunset ave? Or was it a left? _

He couldn’t remember. He went right and hoped for the best. 

_Does Clint go to Valleyside High?_

_I’m hungry. _

_Where the hell am I? _

He turned another corner and kept walking. 

_I wonder will Howard be upset with me for staying out later than I said. _

Most of the time Maria was to tired to care if Tony was out late, besides his absence brought her peace. 

But Howard seemed different. Howard seemed to care about him, he didn’t force Tony to call him dad either, telling him the first night that Howard would be fine if that’s what he was comfortable with. 

Tony decided he had more respect for Howard than Maria, but he’d still have to think about those rules. As he rounded yet another corner he saw the large gate to the neighborhood. 

“_Wow_” Tony said audibly impressed with his wayfinding. He put in the code and walked down the street to his fathers mansion. 

All the lights were still on when he came through the front door and headed to the kitchen. 

Jarvis tipped his eyes over the newspaper and laid it down on the table at the sight of tony. 

“Well look who’s decided to join us at 9:37 pm on this fine Friday night.” he said with a smile. 

“Yeah I went to the beach after that meeting” Tony added opening the fridge and grabbing a wrapped up plate that he assumed was for him.

“Well I hope you enjoyed yourself” Jarvis replies picking his newspaper back up.

“Yeah. Where’s Howard?” 

“He’s stuck at the office but he phoned and asked me to tell you, he will take you shopping for work attire tomorrow.” 

Tony nodded and waited for his food to warm in the microwave. Jarvis watched the boy as he leaned backwards against the counter. 

It was hard to believe that he hadn’t seen Tony in so long, they had been so close before his parents separation and he missed that. He wondered if he’d ever get it back. 

Just then, Tony grabbed his plate and sat next to Jarvis at the table, Jarvis sat his newspaper down and faced him causing Tony’s eyes to widen in moderate confusion, he glanced behind himself and turned back around. 

“Oh _calm down_-“ Jarvis chuckled, “I only want to catch up with you.” 

“Oh....ok _about what_?”

“Everything I’ve missed.” Tony could see a glimmer of sadness in Jarvis’s eyes. 

“Okay, in second grade I got moved to fourth grade and after a month or so in fourth, I got moved to sixth. Then blah blah, kicked out of school, blah blah year at boarding school-“

“Your mother sent you to a boarding school?!” 

Jarvis exclaimed.

“Yeah for my entire eighth grade year. You’d think as expensive as it was they’d be able to afford some edible food” Tony grimaced.

“I take it you didn’t enjoy that?”

“_Nope_”

“Not to question your mother, but why did she send you to a boarding school?” 

Tony sat back in his chair and sighed.

“Well...I was a rowdy kid and I don’t know I guess I was just too much that year _too_.” 

Jarvis’s raised his eyebrows. “Too? What do you mean? Is that why you’re here this year?” 

Tony started fidgeting a bit.

“Yeah Maria sent me here so she could have a break or whatever.” 

After a short pause Jarvis spoke up again.

“A break from you?”

“ I guess so, yeah”

“Are you ok with that?” The butler asked softly.

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t be” tony replied coolly with a shrug. 

_ No I’m not ok with being moved hours away from my childhood home to live with my father that I don’t know_

Tony stood up to take his plate to the sink before the man could get another word in. 

“Night Jarvis”

“_Goodnight Tony_” 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While shopping with Howard, Tony realizes he’s in the public eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A pretty short chapter establishing more of a comfortable relationship between Howard and Tony.   
Next chapter will be much longer, stay tuned! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Let me know in the comments.
> 
> Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!

__

“Tony! Wake up sleeping beauty!” Howard laughed as he pulled the covers off of his sleeping son.

Tony groaned an flipped over on his stomach. “S’too early, come back in an hour.” 

Howard rolled his eyes and smiled “It’s ten thir-“ 

“TEN THIRTY?” Tony popped his head up and squinted at Howard. “You’re waking me up at ten thirty???? Is the sun even up yet?” 

Tony immediately regretted asking when Howard strolled over to window and opened the curtains. “Yep and shining extra bright on this fine morning, now get up so we can get you some work clothes.” 

Tony scowled as he sat up and threw his legs over the bed. Howard watched him expectantly. Tony sighed loud and dramatically as he stood up and walked to his closet. 

“Atta boy, now once you get dressed we’ll head out, and chop chop I haven’t got all day.” Howard chuckled picking a pair of socks off the floor and putting them in his hamper before closing the door behind him. 

Tony frowned and turned back to the wardrobe. After settling on another jean and t shirt duo, he showered, dressed and headed downstairs. 

“So for work you’ll need slacks, button ups and ties- _don’t worry you’ll get used to it_” Howard said noticing Tony’s frown as they sat down in the car and Happy pulled off. 

_We’ll see about that_

The two sat in comfortable silence until they pulled up to a huge mall.

“Can I get a cookie?” Tony asked. 

****

It seemed like Tony had tried on every suit jacket in the store (at Howard’s request) before they were finally done.

Jarvis had taken the few bags to the car and Howard and Tony were walking through the mall. 

After a while he noticed that people were occasionally staring at the two of them. He glanced at his father who had a puzzled look on his face and wondered if he was thinking the same thing. 

“Thinkin hard?” Tony asked lightly.

“No I just..._smell cookies and I’m trying to find them_” Howard admitted slightly embarrassed that Tony had noticed. And as if right on cue, the two came up on the nestle cookie shop. 

“Just as I thought.” He smiled, proud of his noses navigation skills. 

“I’m impressed” tony nodded, he turned and saw a magazine stand in front of the store across the way. 

“What kind would you like?” 

“Chocolate chip is fine thanks. I’m gonna go look in that store while you’re in line”

“No problem”. 

Tony strode over to the shop and walked right in. It was quieter, in deep contrast with the rest of the mall. The walls were lined with stands of magazines. Some popular, some not so popular, and most filled with cheap tabloids. 

He walked and eyed most of the magazines until one caught his eye. The main topic on the cover page was about the latest celeb divorce. But it was the substory that stopped him in his tracks.

_Billionaire Howard Stark seen with his estranged son_

There was even a small picture of the two of them walking to accompany it. Tony had never really thought about tabloids all that much, but having two filthy rich parents he was bound to gain some buzz. 

Still he couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable with the word _estranged_. He hadn’t really addressed his feelings about the whole moving to Malibu ordeal, but this magazine made him think.

He opened it and read further.

”_On Friday night billionaire and genius Howard stark was seen with his estranged teenage son, Anthony Stark. The pair seemed to be headed to dinner with neither of them talking. Could there be drama? Anthony has been living with his mother for the past decade, is he meshing well with his pops? A close source tells us that the two are cordial, but things are cold between them_.” 

_What close source? Who had these people been talking to?_ Tony thought.

He and Howard hadn’t been arguing, and Howard had been nothing but kind to him since he’d arrived. 

_Why would the media make these things up? _

“You learn to ignore it after a while, life of a public figure.”Howard said, standing next to his son and handing him a cookie.

“Am I a public figure?” Tony asked taking a bite of the giant warm chocolate chip cookie. 

“I’m afraid so” Howard muttered. 

“Can we shut em up?” 

“Im afraid not.” 

After a brief pause of silence, the two were on their way out of the mall and headed home. 

Tony shrugged off the article and thought about the rest of his day. He’d a gotten new T shirt, clothes for his internship, and a cookie. 


	9. The internship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony starts his internship with Stark Industries and later strikes a deal with Howard.

Tony’s alarm went off at five thirty and Tony got up a half hour later.

It was the first day of his internship which started at seven, and boy was he tired. He slowly rolled out of bed and laid on the floor. 

_I don’t wanna, I can’t do it. _

He rubbed his eyes and stood to walk over to the wardrobe. He pulled down the clothes that he picked out the night before and laid them on the bed. 

He showered dressed as quickly as he could through his exhaustion. The break in his regular routine was taking a toll on him. Tony usually went to bed around this time. 

He dragged his feet down the hall and down the stairs. He picked up the black leather briefcase at the bottom of the steps and took a look in the large mirror by the door. 

He took in the rare sight of him wearing anything other than his usual jeans and t shirt. The white button up that he left untucked (_Howard would never have to know_), the khaki colored slacks that sagged just a little tiny bit, and his nicest navy blue sneakers which paired well with the rest of the ensemble.

He had moussed his hair so that it wasn’t too unprofessional but he refused to wear a _tie_.

He walked in the kitchen and grabbed a banana and a tumbler for coffee, filling it up before heading out to the car where happy was waiting.

“Morning Hap.”

“Morning...is that the look you _and_ your father agreed to yesterday?” Happy asked with a smirk knowing good and well that Howard had given tony a rundown of how to dress for the job.

“More or less” Tony smirked back as the car pulled out of the driveway. 

“Are you nervous”

I’m not nervous it’s just an internship...At the company that my father built....not huge shoes to fill or anything

“_Nope_” he replied

*******

Tony walked through the large glass doors and headed to the front desk. 

“Good morning Tony! You can sign in here.” The receptionist handed him a clipboard. He signed in and looked next to his name: Eighth floor. 

He walked over to the crowd waiting for the elevator. And noticed once again the stares he was getting.

_ Do they know who I am or is it because I didn’t tuck my shirt? _

He walked in last and noticed most eyes on him. 

_Alright guys this isn’t amusing it’s weird. _

He sucked his teeth and turned around to press the eighth floor button. He could hear parts of quiet whispers saying: 

“_That’s Tony Stark”_

_ “is that Howard’s son?”_

_ “Looks just like him” _

When the elevator finally reached the eighthfloor after what felt like forever, Tony quickly walked out to find his desk in the intern office. 

“Tony, you’re over here next to me” A nerdish looking guy with deep brown hair called out without looking up from his computer screen. 

Most of the other interns were already there, but it had only started at seven.

Tony looked down at his watch.

_7:25_

Late on the first day probably wasn’t a good look for the son of the CEO. He took a seat at the desk with the name tag “Tony” and sat his empty briefcase down on the floor. 

He glanced up and others were hard at work, typing away on their computers and answering phone calls. The phone calls were just from actual employees who needed favors done but it was good experience nonetheless. 

Tony opened the small drawer in his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper. The document was a list of the tasks required of him. 

Answer phones, organize files in the computer, tend to employees. 

_Seems easy enough_. 

Tony began filing documents on the computer. There had to be at least 200 of them but he was finished in an hour. 

Once his task was complete, he rapped his fingers on the desk and glanced around to the same boring scene he saw before. He yawned and stretched back in his chair, getting icy glares from other interns who were hard at work. 

Tony stood up, grabbed his briefcase and headed out. He decided his work was done for the day.

******

Tony was in the den playing video games when his father came home. 

“Anthony, a _word_ in my office please.” 

Tony put the controller down slowly and followed his father a few steps behind.

“Close the door and have a seat”

Tony started to get nervous, not that he’d ever show it. But he had never pissed Howard off and he didn’t want to start now.

“I got word today that you skipped out on your internship today...is that true?” Howard asked, face stern. 

“Not entirely-“ Tony started, Howard leaned back in his chair, eyeing the boy. 

“-I finished my work in like an _hour_, and I didn’t have anything else to do, so I left.” Tony shrugged.

“You didn’t answer calls? Run errands for the employees?” Howard asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Phone never rang, employees never needed anything.” Tony said deadpan.

“_Interesting_. Well the interns who _stayed_ had the privilege of sitting in on an international conference call for the finalization of a missile design.” 

Tony probably would have enjoyed that, but it didn’t take away from the fact that the rest of the day would’ve been dreadfully boring.

“_Good for them_-“ Tony replies in the same challenging tone he used with his mom during these discussions. “but I don’t understand why you’re upset with _me_. I went, I did the work, I left.”

“_Exactly_, you did the absolute bare minimum of what was required of you. _That’s_ the issue.-“ Howard said, raising his voice only a little. “This is the time to show some responsibility and apply yourself. Tony...I’m trying to give you an opportunity here son-“

“And I don’t want it! I don’t want to file documents and answer phones and pour coffee or any of that other shit-“ Tony interrupted raising his voice more than a little. 

“You need to watch your tone, Anthony” Howard said, caught way off guard by Tony’s outburst. 

“I don’t want to work in some dull quiet office with eleven other stuck up interns! And I don’t want to work at SI, where everyone already knows who I am when I come in, and are waiting for me to fuck something up! And I’m not going to!” Tony yelled.

“Tony settle down! First off you need to watch your language-“ Tony rolled his eyes, Howard paused but ultimately decided to ignore it. 

“Second, is that really what this is about? Are you not applying yourself for fear of failure? He asked gently.

Tony sat silently for a moment. “That’s part of it. But I _really_ don’t want to work at SI, it’s just not for me.” He pleaded.

Howard sat back in his chair and rubbed his chin. After a momentary silence, he spoke up. 

“Ok Tony, here’s my deal. If you don’t want to continue at SI, then you’ve got to find a job and stick with it until the end of the summer.”

“I’ll take it” Tony sighed in relief, laying back in his chair and placing his palm on his forehead.

“Was it that bad?” Howard chuckled.

“Yes” Tony groaned.


	10. Tony’s New Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a super long chapter but I have longer ones coming! Let me know what you think in the comments! Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!

Tony walked in ready for his first day of his non Stark Industries job. He hadn’t known exactly what to pick, but he went with the easiest route he could find. 

_Ice cream._

“Here’s your uniform, I’m sure you can figure the rest out.” The redhead handed him a hat and an apron. 

“Aren’t you supposed to _train me_?” Tony askedconfused. 

Natasha stared blankly at him. “Scoop the ice cream. Take the money. _It’s_ _that easy, Toby.”_

“It’s actually ton-“

“In fact, you can take this customer coming in now.”

Tony turned to the cash register.

“Hi welcome to sweet scoops- _CLINT_!”

“TONY WHATS UP DUDE!” 

Natasha frowned, watching the two do a trash handshake.

“Sup Nat!” Clint grinned.

“You two _know_ each other?” Natasha winced.

“Yeah Tony came into the surf shop one time. And tried some of _the soda_”

“Hm” was all she said back.

“Yeah anyway Clint what ice cream do you wan-“

“That’ll be $3.73” Natasha interrupted, handing Clint his usual order.  One scoop ofpeanut butter banana and two scoops of s’mores. 

“Thanks, ill catch you guys later!” Clint said smiling. Natasha even gave a tiny smile back. 

After Clint had left the store, Tony turned to Natasha. 

“You said _I_ could have the customer.” 

“I changed my mind” 

“You like Clint!”

“You talk too much”

******

When Tony got home that night, Jarvis and Howard were playing an intense game of chess. 

“Hey son!” Howard said intentionally putting a piece down before looking up at Tony.

“Hey guys, what are you doing?” Tony asked, grabbing a cheese stick from the fridge.

“Oh nothing, I’m just spanking Howard at chess!” Jarvis said before the other man could answer.

Tony laughed and Howard glared playfully at the butler.

“Did you find a job?” Howard inquired kindly.

“Yeah and I was hired on the spot!” Tony answered with a hint of excitement. 

“Wow that’s amazing! Where is it?” Howard and Jarvis we’re both smiling and waiting expectantly for his answer.

Tonys excitement was quickly replaced with worry. 

Would his father, the CEO of a Fortune 500 company really approve of him working at an _ice cream shop? _

_Should I lie?_

“I’m a clerk at the Couples resort up the street!” Tony facepalmed in his head.

“Tony that’s excellent!” Jarvis exclaimed.

“I’m proud of you son!” Howard smiled at his son fondly.

An overwhelming feeling that Tony couldn’t identify came over him and made him want to cry.

“Thanks-“ He fake smiled. “Well I’m beat so I’m gonna head to bed now. Night!”

“Goodnight!” The two men said turning back to their game. 

“Checkmate!” 

“Jarvis you _son of a_-“

*****

Tony closed the door to his bedroom and sat on his bed. 

_The one time someone said they were proud of him, it was based on a lie_. 

A few tears escaped his eyes but he wiped them away quickly.

He changed out of his day clothes and got into bed without setting an alarm.The great thing about his new job was that he didn’t have to get up early.

_How am I gonna keep up this lie? Howard will be even more disappointed._

The gleam of pride in his fathers eyes would be gone and replaced with one of disgust.

Tony was ashamed that something so trivial could overwhelm him like this, but ultimately decided to keep up the lie. It would only be until the end of the summer. 

He could do that.


	11. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard finds out something about Tony. Tony finds out something about Howard.👀

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one night? Tony_Starks_biscuits is really on top of things tonight! 
> 
> Definitely a bit of angst but all ends well!
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments!

__

It was a hot Friday afternoon in Malibu. Tony got dressed for work and tucked his uniform into his backpack and headed down the staircase when he heard his father on a phone call in the kitchen.

“Mmhmm...One dozen....red roses.Thank you.” He hung the phone up and turned around to see Tony leaning against the doorway with a smirk and one raised eyebrow.

Howard sighed, he already knew what was gonna happen next. 

“soooooo...are those flowers for _Jarvis_ or have you met someone?” Tony laughed at his father who had started to blush a little.

“Howaaard I haven’t seen you _blush_ before! She must be speciaaal” 

Part of him was playing it up to annoy his dad and part of him really was interested. The fact that his old old man was still in the game proved to be entertaining to say the least. 

Howard looked down at a small list and checked some things off. He slowly looked back up to see his son who was still staring intently. 

Howard rolled his eyes and scoffed. “What?” 

“ What ?” Tony asked feigning innocence. “I mean you’re accomplished, rich, in great shape for a man  _your age_ -“ 

Howard laughed and shook his head

“-This honestly shouldn’t come as any surprise.” Tony continued.

“Thank you for your  input , Tony” was all that the man could think to say. 

“What’s her name? What’s the list for? Are you going on a date? Are y-“

_“Go to work_, we aren’t talking about this” Howard tried but failed to contain his smile.

“Ok-“ Tony sighed playfully and headed for the door. “Have fun on your...DATE” he yelled just before closing it. 

Howard laughed and rolled his eyes at him.

_That boy is dramatic to say the least._

******

It had been a busy afternoon but had calmed down during the evening. There were a few patrons in the shop enjoying their ice cream, but not too many. 

As closing time was approaching, Tony went to the back and took inventory. When he was done he came back out and saw Natasha was serving two customers. 

“Hey Stark-“Natasha started to ask Tony but stopped when she got two replies.

Tony looked at Natasha and then looked at the other man.

“Hey, son.”Howard said nonchalantly eating spoonfuls of his ice cream. 

“Oh hey Howard what’s up?” Tony asked in the same tone.

“Not much.” Howard said narrowing his eyes at Tony. 

“Ah, Who’s this?” Tony asked with a smile. 

_The audacity_.  Howard thought .

“ I’m Peggy, nice to finally meet you Tony, I’ve heard great things about you!” The woman smiled. 

“Peggy? Well it’s just _wonderful_ to finally meet you too!” Tony said, hamming it up just to get under his fathers skin. Tony wasn’t the only one with secrets.

After a moment longer of the phoney introduction. Howard and Peggy got ready to leave. 

“See you at home son” Howard flashed a tight smile as he held the door open for his date and followed her out.”

“See ya then” Tony said, keeping up a front until the man left. Once he was gone Tony let out a huge breath.

“You could cut the tension with a  _knife_ ” Natasha said without turning around from what she was doing. 

********

Tony walked home slow like he always did when he was in trouble. New parent, same old ways. He hoped that maybe Howard and Peggy were still out on their date. Or maybe Howard had gone to bed early. 

Tony wasn’t afraid of confrontation, but arguing with his father was uncharted territory. With Maria, Tony didn’t care. But he felt different about Howard.

He opened the front door slowly and quietly. 

Silence .

He walked up the stairs and was headed to his bedroom. 

Unfortunately for Tony, he had to pass Howard’s office to get to his bedroom. And the doors to the study were wide open. 

Tony wasn’t sure if Howard was home or not but he attempted to speed walk past the office anyway. 

And he failed.

“Tony!” Howard called out from the office.

Tony walked backwards and stopped in front of the office. “Sir?”

“Lets have a chat please.” Howard said with a closed smile. 

Tony put his backpack on the floor next to the chair and plopped himself down.

“Ok” Tony rubbing his face with his hand, bracing himself.

“I need you to explain your job situation. You told me that you were working at the resort...what happened to that?”

Tony sighed.

He could tell him that he was fired but that would go against their agreement and he’d be working right back at SI which was the _last_ thing he wanted. 

“_I lied_” Tony said, without hesitation.

“Why?” Howard’s brow furrowed.

He really did not want to explain this. But he had kind of backed himself into a corner and had no other choice.

“Because...you’re the CEO of a world renowned business...and I scoop ice cream. I thought you might be disappointed that your only kid gave up a prestigious internship to make _waffle cones_.”

Howard was quiet for a moment. So Tony sighed and kept talking.

“You told me... you said you were _proud of me_. No one has ever said that to me, I just didn’t want to let you down.” Tony looked down at his palms. “I guess it’s stupid but...I don’t know, it just meant a lot to me that you said that.”

Howard nodded slowly with a hum.

“I’m really sorry that you feel that way son. I really am. I’m proud of you no matter what job you have, even if you don’t have one at all. Have I ever made you feel like I wasn’t?” Howard asked genuinely.

Tony could feel tears pricking his eyes. But he held them back.He took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply.

“No.”

Was all he could choke out.

“Tony, I know you’ve only been here for a short while...but I think it’s time you tell me about your life at home. Could you do that?” 

Asking as gently as he could, Howard came around the front of his desk and sat in front of Tony, listening intently.

“what do you want to know?”Tony said in a small voice.

Howard could tell he was on the verge of tears. It upset him greatly to see his son so hurt, but if he had any chance of making it better, he had to find out what happened.

“What’s the relationship between you and your mother. Have things been tense between you two since...since I left?”

“Not at the beginning. But as I’ve gotten older it’s just...we can’t even have a conversation without fighting. Tony said, still looking down

“I see, go on”Howard said, his voice was soft, but he was confused. 

“There’s not much to tell...She works, I stay out of her way. When I get in trouble at school she takes or breaks my stuff. When I upset her she sends me to boarding school. She doesn’t let me do any of the stuff I like. She hates all of my friends, she hates my music and my clothes and...me. She hates me.”

Howard felt nauseated at the details Tony was giving him about Maria. He couldn’t believe the loving mother Tony once had, turned into this.

“That can’t be true...that she hates you. Tony how could anyone hate you. Has she told you that?”

Tony scoffed and rolled his tear stained eyes.

“She doesn’t have to! You don’t hear the way she says my name with such...disdain! Or how she barely looks at me during a conversation. Or how she never asks how I’m doing and just rattles off her laundry list of high expectations-“

Tony continued without taking a single breath.

“-And when I meet them she doesn’t even say that she’s proud of me...The last time she even told me she loved me, I was seven. When I left to come here, she said NOTHING! SHE WATCHED!!” The boy shouted, finally breaking down into sobs.

“Hey ok ok-“ Howard stood up and pulled his sobbing son into his arms. Tony tensed for a small moment before loosening up and laying his head on Howard’s chest. Howard rubbed his shaking sons back and tried to comfort him.

“It’s ok...” Howard places his chin on top of Tony’s head and held him for a while.

“I’m so sorry.” Was all that Howard could say.

“I love you son. And I’m so very proud of you.”

Howard said squeezing him tightly before they let each other go. They went back to their seats and sat in a moment of calming silence before Tony broke it.

“Well, I told you my thing sooo...” he half smirked.

Howard was confused for a moment and then let out a long sigh and smiled.

“We’ve been seeing each other for three months now. But I’ve known her since my early college days.”

“Oh?” Tony sat back in his chair. “And What do you like about mizz Peggy?”

“Oh my goodness Tony-“ Howard put his face in his hands, lightly exasperated with his sons prying. 

“Ok, she’s sweet, she’s funny and extremely smart. She’s quite feisty and very pretty. The list could go on” Howard chuckled.

“And she’s...” Tony said gesturing for Howard to continue. 

Howard sighed again. “Hot” 

“Yes! _There_ it is” Tony said smiling, satisfied with being able to make his father admit it.

“Have you..._kissed her yet_?” Tony asked raising his eyebrows.

“Goodnight Tony!” Howard replied, gesturing towards the door.

“Fine , goodnight” Tony laughed and headed towards the door.

“Tony..._I love you_.” 

“_Love you too.”_


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and his friends go on a few little adventures the Saturday before school starts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s been a while since I updated! But I’ll be posting another chapter before the day is over! Hope you’re enjoying the story,  
Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!

Tony, Clint, and Natasha we’re spending their Saturday at the beach.

Clint was burying Tony in the sand, and Natasha was laid out on a beach towel.

“Your first day of school in Malibu is in a week Tony, are you ready?” Clint asked pouring another bucket of sand over Tony’s feet.

“Yeah, I mean it’s just school right?” 

“Oh Tony. Tony, Tony, Tony. My sweet little Tony.-“ Clint said, patting the huge mound of sand over his legs. “No this isn’t _just school_” he said in a nasally mocking voice.

“Valleyside High School is CUTHROAT, it’s COLD and UNFORGIVING. It’s the JUNGLE and full of hungry tigers and sly anacondas!! And YOU,Tony...are a tiny, innocent, baby _Capybara_.”

“A what-?” Tony squinted and frowned his face at the dramatic boy.

“THE JOCKS-“ Clint interrupted to continue his tirade. “Are like bloodthirsty Jaguars, stalking their prey and pouncing when you’re most vulnerable.”

“Hey Clint, SHUT UP!”Natasha fussed from her beach towel.

“I’m just trying to warn little Tony before his first day-” Clint retorted throwing a little plastic shovel at her butt. “-do you feel prepared little Tony?”

“I’m sure I’ll make it Clint. And stop calling me _little_.” Tony said, laying his head back on the sand pillow Clint made for him.

“You’ll be fine, Toby.” Natasha said, rolling onto her back.

“BUT!-“ 

“Oh my god” Tony and Nat groaned in unison.

“Since it’s the weekend before school, that means it’s time for me and nats weekend before school tradition. We hit a bunch of fun spots before the weekend ends! 

“Yeahhh toby you should do it too!” Natasha said, standing up and looking down at the two.

We’re gonna do all the rides at the boardwalk, we’re gonna see the Hollywood sign and then we’re gonna jump off a really high cliff into the ocean like they do in the movies!” Clint explained.

“Hm...I’m down” Tony nodded.

“Cool” Natasha said, turning and walking down to the water.

Tony looked up at the nice sunset.

“What a nice view”he said, taking in the gorgeous mixture of yellow and pink in the sky.

“Very nice.” Clint replied, watching Natasha’s backside as she reached the shore.

“You know what” Tony muttered under his breath and shook his head.

****

Tony was eating a huge bowl of Cheerios at the kitchen table when Howard walked in.

“Hey son, enjoying your last weekend of freedom?” He asked with a smile, pouring coffee into his tumbler.

“Yeah, I’ll probably be out for most of the day” Tony said, taking a bite of his breakfast.

“Same here. Where are you off to?” Howard asked turning to Tony and leaning against the counter.

“Boardwalk, and we’re gonna see the Hollywood sign” He replied. 

For his fathers sake he conveniently left out that they would be climbing the Hollywood sign and also jumping off a cliff. 

“Sounds like a good time!” 

“Yeah what about you?” Tony asked

“Oh I’m off to golf with Coulson and then Peggy and I will be out for the rest of the day.” 

“Ah. You two have been together a while. Are you at the “meet the parents” stage yet?” Tony laughed. 

“Well the great thing about dating at this age is that you often _can’t_.”

“_Why_ _no_\- OH MY GOD! Howard you’re terrible!” Tony said making them both laugh.

“Well, see you later. Be safe and have fun.” Howard said, heading out.

“You too!” Tony called out, standing to put his bowl in the sink and head out as well. 

He had plans to meet Natasha and Clint at the boardwalk for their first activity of the day.

***

“Ok we have to the drop tower before we leave!” Clint said as they stood in line for their final rollercoaster called “The Riptide”.

Tony saw the loops and immediately wanted to do it, but when he found out it went backwards he practically forced the other two in line.

The three sat together with Natasha in the middle and pulled down the seat bar.

“This is gonna be awesommme” Tony said, tapping his fingers on the bar. He looked over at Clint who had a pained look on his face.

“Clint what’s wrong?” He asked as the ride started off slowly.

“I uh- remember you guys told me to stop eating so much Cracker Jack? I uh... _I_ _should_ _have_ _listened_.”

“Clint if you puke on me I’ll _kill_ _you _and that’s a promise.” Natasha said staring straight ahead. 

Clint winced and tightly held on to the bar.

When the ride was over, the trio went to see the picture that was snapped at the top of the coaster.

Tony and Natasha laughed when they found theirs.

On one end was Clint retching over the side oftheir cart. In the middle was Natasha leaning away from Clint with a huge grimace on her face. And on the other end was Tony with a huge smile on his face and his hands up in the air, completely oblivious to the other two.

Natasha paid for three keychains with the pictures so they could all remember that hilarious adventure.

Clint still feeling queasy,ultimately decided against riding the drop tower, so they moved on to the next part of their day.

****

After about an hour in Nats car, they made it to the bottom of the hill with the Hollywood sign.

“Ok so we just have to follow the path up the hill and we’ll be at the sign. But I’m pretty sure we have to go with a tour group.” Clint said looking at the map.

“Well, we can just pretend we’re with one if anyone asks” Tony shrugged. 

“Or we could take our own path!” Clint said perking his eyebrows.

“And get mauled by mountain lions? Sounds great” Natasha quipped, putting on her sunglasses. 

“Lets just follow the map” she continued.

“Ok well I wanna be the leader!” Clint said taking the map out of Tony’s hands. 

Tony rolled his eyes as the two followed him.

They had been walking for about an hour and still...no Hollywood sign

“Clint you do know where we are right?” Tony asked. 

“Of course I d-“

“No you don’t you _idiot_ the map is UPSIDE DOWN” Natasha yelled, smacking Clint on the back of the head and snatching the map.

“_Oops_” Clint pursed his lips.

“I wondered why we hadn’t seen any other tourists” Tony said rubbing his face with both hands.

“Ok follow me” Natasha said, walking away.

It couldn’t have been ten minutes before they were finally in front of the monument. 

“Wow, isn’t she beautiful?” Clint said looking up at the letters. 

“Yeah” Natasha said clicking a picture of Clint standing in front of the first O.

“Toby go stand next to Clint for the picture.”

Tony obeyed and Natasha took their picture. 

They stayed for a few more minutes and decided to head back down. Natasha lead the way even though Clint begged for a second chance.

“Are you guys ready for our final destination?” Natasha asked as they got in the car and headed to the cliff.

After about a forty minute drive, the group arrived to their cliff jumping spot, Hermit Falls.

They hiked up to the peak and saw a few other people.

“See Clint, this is what it looks like when you’ve gone the _right_ way” Tony patted him on the back sarcastically. 

“Whatever dude” Clint tried not to smile and smacked Tony’s arm.

“Ok guys, are you ready? Natasha asked.

“Yeah” the other two answered taking in the view of the greenish blue water at the bottom. 

A girl from another group volunteered to take their picture as they jumped from the cliff.

“Three, two, one, go!” The girl yelled as the three ran and jumped at the same time, screaming at the top of their lungs.

“NICE JOB GUYS!! HERES YOUR CAMERA!” She threw the disposable camera down towards Tony. He caught it right before it hit the water.

“Good catch Toby!” Natasha said, taking the camera and paddling over to the shore and sitting it down.

“That was epic! But I got an _insane_ wedgie!” Clint said as he swam over to Tony.

Tony sighed.

After Nat came back they swam for a while longer before heading to the car. They changed clothes in the dirty little tourist restrooms. 

Clint saw a lizard and jumped on the toilet before following Tony and running out.

They got in the car and headed to a nearby pizza shop. 

The three rested and stuffed their faces with pizza for at least an hour and a half before getting on the road and heading back to Malibu. 

The car ride was quiet, with just the faint sound of the radio playing in Natasha’s car as she drive the two sleeping guys to a CVS in Malibu. 

She woke them up and they all went inside to develop the pictures from their eventful day.

There were pictures of Clint eating cotton candy and Cracker Jack and drinking slusheesand all kinds of stuff. 

There were also many pictures where Tony was looking at him with disgust. 

And then there were lots of pictures of Tony laughing and he and Clint joking around. Pushing each other around and laughing as they walked up the hill to the Hollywood sign. 

Pictures of them hanging off of the sign.

Clint in the middle of a backflip attempt.

Clint after failed backflip attempt.

So many pictures.

But their favorite was the three of them jumping off of the cliff in unison. Headed down towards the water together. 

It was breathtaking.

“Wow Nat, I didn’t know your little disposable camera could take such good pics” Tony said as they all admired it.

“Me neither.” Nat said, yawning.

“Well guys, school is in one day. Guess we better rest up.” Clint said.

“Yeah you’re right” the other two chimed in.

They said their good nights and parted ways until Monday. 

****

After his shower Tony headed over to the nightstand with the picture. He put it in an empty frame and sat it by his lamp.

He laid down, turned the lamp off and thought for a while.

Thinking about how upset and terrified he was when packing to come to Malibu. Leaving his friends and his life behind to start a new one against his will. But things weren’t all bad. 

_I’m getting a fresh start, at a new school, with new people, and new friends. _

_Maybe I really can have a new beginning._

*********


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Tony’s first day at Valleyside High. How do things go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun chapter to write! Hope you enjoy!

Tony pulled on his favorite red and black  AC/DC shirt and a pair of ripped black jeans with red high top converse. 

He ran a brush through his hair a few times before heading downstairs for a quick breakfast.

“Morning Sir, your breakfast” Jarvis said, sitting a plate with two pancakes, eggs, and bacon in front of him.

“Oh Thanks Jarvis but I don’t think I have time to-“

Tony stopped when Jarvis gave him a warning look. He had already scolded Tony for not eating enough.

“Looks great thanks.” Tony said sitting down and taking a bite of the bacon.

“You’re most welcome” he said with the smile and passed Howard on his way out of the kitchen.

“Tony! First day of school, you ready?” Howard asked as he came in and grabbed a mug.

“Yes sir.” Tony said with a mouth full of pancake.

“Good! You’ll do very well, but remember what we talked about. You’ve got to apply yourself and be responsible.”

“Yes sir!” Tony said finishing his breakfast and rinsing his plate.

“Ok. When you get home I want to hear about your day please.” Howard said, sitting down with his coffee and picking up a newspaper.

“Yes sir” he said, picking up his backpack and headed towards the door.

Tony smiled as he headed down the driveway to the car where Happy was.

Jarvis, Howard, and Happy. 

It was nice to have people care about him for a change.

*****

This is it. Here we go. Tony thought as he stepped into the bustling school. He grabbed his schedule and found his locker. 

Tony could barely think over the noise of chattering, lockers slamming, and squeaking sneakers on the linoleum floor. 

_He loved it. _

He found his locker and put his books in. All but chemistry which was his first class.

He checked his schedule one last time before heading to the classroom. 

He walked past a group of cheerleaders and a pack of jocks carrying their books and walking them to class.

He passed a few nerds trading Pokémon cards in the corners and couples sucking face near their lockers.

_Wow this is nothing like private school._

He got to the class room and sat down by his name.

_Assigned seats. Interesting._

A few other students filed in as the bell rang.

_Early for class? Howard would be pleased._

He looked at the name in front of the empty seat next to him.

_Bruce Banner. Hm sounds familiar._

Just then, the brown haired and glasses clad boy sat in his seat.

“Oh hey Tony” he said momentarily glancing up from his book. 

guy“Bruce! From the internship right?” 

“Wow I’m surprised you remember, you were only there for like an _hour_.” He laughed nervously.

“Yeah it didn’t really work out...but how are you though?” 

“Pretty good. You?” 

“Yeah I’m good”

“Alright everyone take your seats please, Mr. Stark could you come up here for a moment?”

Tony’s stomach flipped. Had he already messed something up?

He got off the stool and made his way to the teachers desk.

“Sir?”

“Tony- dont worry you’re not in any trouble-“ the teacher said noting Tony’s nervous expression. “I looked over your grades and accolades from your other academies and such. Young man you’re technically qualified to _teach_ this class.” He laughed.

Tony chuckled along nervously.

“Anyways, Since you’re more than familiar with the material, i was hoping to enlist you as a tutor? There’s no pay but it does offer extra credit!” The teacher explained, sliding a sign up sheet over the desk.

Tony thought for a minute. 

“Sure why not.” He shrugged and signed his name on the paper. 

“Good, I’ll have you paired with another student by tomorrow.” The teacher smiled.

“Thank you sir.” Tony said as he headed back to his seat.

_Never in my life have I used the word sir as much as I have today. See I’m good at respect._

Even though Tony already knew everything the curriculum had to offer, he still did his work diligently, filling out worksheets and reading paragraphs until the bell rang.

*****

Tony had done well being on time for his classes. He tried to make sure he payed extra attention in the subjects he wasn’t as good in and took it seriously.

Academically speaking, he was already on a great track. socially? Not so much.

At his old school, everyone knew who he was. He was the crazy, fun, party guy that everyone talked to in the hallway. He was the class clown, always making everyone laugh.

One Wednesday when the water fountains were instead dispensing Coca-Cola, everyone knew who was behind it. 

He was the life of all of the private schools he attended, bucking all their strict rules and policies.

He joked and pestered the teachers when the rules were to be quiet. He never wore the school uniform correctly, and often wore his own clothes instead. He sat on top of the tables in the cafeteria and told story after story to his fellow classmates.

But things were different now. Tony couldn’t feel more out of place. He was no longer the big fish in the pond. In fact, he felt quite small.

He had wished time and time again to go to a school where he didn’t have to conform and could be his own person. A school with an ounce of individuality. 

But he never thought it would mean sitting in a crowded lunchroom at a table alone during his senior year.

“Toby!” Natasha smiled and sat across from Tony.

“Oh hey nat. Hey Clint.” Tony said back, as Clint took a seat next to the redhead.

“Hey little Tony! How’s your day been?” Clint asked taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Eh, ya know just...fine” Tony shrugged.

“Mm, feeling like a capybara yet?” Clint laughed 

“I still don’t know what that is” Tony replied dryly.

“Listen Tobes, if you want to fit in, sign up for some activity clubs.” Natasha advised. “What kind of geek stuff are you into?” She asked.

“Ok first of all I’m not a geek-“

“Debatable,” nat interrupted.

“What?

“Anyway, I like to play guitar. And I build bots here and there so I like engineering-“

“YOU BUILD ROBOTS?” Clint exclaimed, interrupting again.

“Yes. ANYWAY that’s pretty much it I guess?”

“Wow...you really don’t do much huh?” Nay observed.

“Nope.” Tony replied, thinking of all the hobbies and interests he’d had that Maria put an end to.

“Well, you could always try something new if you want.” Clint said as the three stood up to leave the caf.

“That’s true, I’ll go check the sign up sheets” 

They group said their goodbyes and Tony headed over to the sheets.

Band club

Student Gov

Debate team

Tech club

Science club and engineering 

The school had a five club selection limit but Tony just picked once to start with.

His science teacher had practically begged him to join the science club so he marked his name down for that one too.

On the way to his next class he ended up passing the glass case filled with his fathers achievements.

He stood in front of the case for a moment.

_You’re capable of great things, you just have to apply yourself._

Howard will be proud.

*****

Tony had just left his first engineering club meeting where he had made a hard drive for his bot codes. He inspected it as he walked to his locker.

He was starting to unlock it when a heavy weight knocked into him and slammed him into the closed lockers completely crushing the new hard drive.

“Are you _kidding me_?” Tony exclaimed out of frustration as he reached down to pick up the little pieces it had shattered into. 

He turned around to face a tall, broad shouldered blonde guy catching a football. 

“Look where you’re going dude!” He told tony.

“Look where I’m going? I was standing here!” Tony said feeling an intense annoyance come over him.

“Ok well next time just make sure you’re not in the way.” The guy retorted.

“I’m at my own locker _douchebag_ and look what you did.” Tony said angrily

“Listen dude sorry about your little LEGO piece or whatever that is but you need to chill. We were just playing a game.” 

“Yeah and your _game_, ruined two hours of extremely hard work, time and energy. Sorry doesn’t fix that” Tony snapped.

“Whoa that’s a lot of attitude coming from a _freshie_.” The guy said in a warning tone.

“Freshie? I’m a _senior_.” Tony scoffed. He looked up and noticed the name sown on his jacket. Rogers.

“Oh...Little short to be a senior” he chuckled jerkily

“And you’re a little _stupid_ for playing football in the middle of the hallway with your _idiot_ friends but here we are.” That was a bit much, Tony realized after he said it, but at this point he didn’t care. He was livid. And there was no reversing it. 

“Watch your mouth dude or els-“

“Or else you’ll watch it for me?-” Tony interrupted looking at him in a mocking way.

“Is that supposed to _intimidate_ me?” Tony asked stepping towards the other guy.

For Tony to be noticeably smaller than the tall muscular guy, he was being quite bold. But Tony had had his share of fights with people this guyssize, he wasn’t scared.

“You would want to step back, I wouldn’t want to have to _lay you out_ in front of all these people” the blond spat through gritted teeth.

Quite a crowd had gathered around to spectate whatever was about to go down. 

Most of the murmurs Tony could hear, involved the word Steve. He figured that was the guys name.

“Lay one hand on me, and I will _knock you unconscious_. Don’t try me.” Tony said back

“Is that a threat” the guy laughed loudly, pushing tony into a locker.

“It’s a promise” Tony said pushing him harder into the lockers behind him.

Steve threw a punch at Tony which hit him right over his left eye. Tony hit Steve’s jaw with a hard elbow strike. 

The two of them held each other off for a moment, both trying to get a punch in.

Tony went full force with a blow to Steve’s stomach making him double over and Tony shoved him onto the floor, straddling him and punching him in the face twice before Steve grabbed his wrist and threw him off. He hit Tony in the nose twice before being pulled off of him.

Tony swiftly stood to his feet but was also being held back. 

School security had stepped in, but that didn’t stop the two bloodied and angry boys from trying to keep it going. 

“MISSED A SPOT ASSHOLE!” Tony yelled at Steve 

“YOU BETTER BE GLAD HE’S HOLDING ME BACK OR I’D FINISH YOU, YOU PRICK” steve shouted trying to pull away 

“OH PLEASE TRY!!! PLEASE!! I WANT YOU TO TRY” Tony yelled as security pulled him back

“KEEP RUNNING YOUR MOUTH AND THATS EXACTLY WHATS COMING”

“ENOUGH” the Superintendent Clark shouted at the two boys.

“Bring them to my office please.” She said to the security.

****

It had taken half an hour to calm the guys down after their brawl. 

There they sat, in the same chairs where Tony sat with his father that day and promised to change his behavior.

Tony felt his stomach turn a bit thinking about what he’d tell Howard. 

Their injuries had been cleaned up but were still very visible. Steve had a big bruise on his jaw and other dark marks and scratches on his face. 

Tony had a dark black eye and a bloody nose.

They had tried to explain the situation but superintendent Clark had insisted on the fact that she didn’t care.

“The behavior exhibited from the two of you today is unacceptable and intolerable. Steven, as captain of the football team I expected way better from you. Picking petty fights is not the way to maintain your position and you need to shape up or you will lose that position immediately.”

“Yes ma’am” Steve said without looking up.

“Anthony, this is exactly what we talked about that day. You know better than to be in my office over something like this. You made a promise to me and to this school that you would turn yourself around. You’ve got to do better than this.

“Yes ma’am” Tony sighed.

“Both of you are good students and I’d love nothing more to give you a second chance. And I will. But actions have consequences. The two of you are facing a week of suspension, but I don’t think either of you want to explain to your parents why you got suspended on the first day of school. Is that correct?”

The boys nodded.

“Right. Your other option is for the two of you to sit at a table together during lunch for a week and work out your differences.

Tony sighed and put his hand over his face.

Steve shook his head in frustration.

“Those are your options.” Clark said, folding her hands together neatly on her desk.

“Ok” they both said begrudgingly.

“Good. And boys...do better.” She said as she dismissed the two.


	14. Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard and Tony have a talk, but it’s nothing like what Tony was expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s another update, more coming soon. Hope you enjoy!

__

Tony was walking out of the school when he heard footsteps running up behind him.

“TONY OH MY GOD-” Clint yelled, echoing through the near empty halls.

“I heard the news. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” He asked smacking Tony once on the back of the head as they walked out of the doors.

“Yeah toby, picking a fight with the captain of the football team on the first day? Probably not the greatest move” Natasha chimed in, suddenly appearing startling tony.

“Whoa where did you come from?” Tony asked.

“Don’t worry about that. Worry about your black eye and bloody nose.” Nat replied

“I’m just upset that I _missed_ it” Clint hung his head.

“I’ll be sure to let you know next time. ” Tony said flatly

“What happened?” Natasha asked

“I was so mad I don’t even really remember...I know he made me break my thumb drive. But other than that he was just being a real douche” Tony recalled.

“_Wow_. Where did you learn to fight?” Clint wondered

Tony’s mind flashed back to the fights he’d gotten into back home.

“I don’t know-” Tony shrugged “-I’ve gotta get home I’ll see you guys later.” He said, walking away from the group.

Tony felt like going anywhere but home. But there werent many places he could go withoutpeople staring at his black eye.

The whole walk there, Tony was thinking about what to tell Howard.He couldn’t tell him he’d been in a fight on the first day. He’d have to make something up.

He felt nauseous thinking of Howard feeling the same way about him as Maria did. He pictured Howard yelling about how he never does anything right, asking why he can’t be like the other kids.

The more he thought about it, the more his heart started racing.

_I’ve somehow managed to disappoint both of my parents. My mother hates me and my father is gonna throw me out. _

Tony could feel himself overreacting but he couldn’t stop the negative thoughts from overtaking his mind.  


That’s how anxiety works.

Tears pricked his eyes as the disappointed faces of Howard, Jarvis, and even Happy flashed through his brain. 

The sad thing was, Tony had actually _tried_. For the first time in a really long time, he had actually tried. Signing up for the science club wasn’t for no reason. He really wanted to put in the effort, and he’d ruined it in the first day.

By the time he walked through the driveway he’d decided to tell Howard it was a PE accident. If he sold it well enough maybe he could convince him.

Tony walked through the front door and right up the steps. He leaned his ear against the door of Howard’s study but he didn’t hear anything.

Since it was Monday, Howard was most likely still at the office.

_Thank God._

Tony went to his room and threw his backpack on the floor by the bed. He kicked off his shoes and threw himself on the bed.

It wasn’t long before he had dozed off.

******

A gentle hand woke Tony up from his deep sleep. He rolled over and sat up to see Howard sitting on the end of his bed. 

“Hey.” He said gently.

“Hi” Tony responded, going to rub the sleep out of his eye but wincing at the pain. He had forgotten about the black eye.

“That looks painful. How’d that happen?” Howard cringed.

“Uh, _PE accident_” Tony said, letting his hands fall to his lap.

“_Interesting_.” Howard nodded, picking up an ice pack from his other side and handing it to him.

Tony got nervous. Why would he know to bring an ice pack? He knows.

“Ya know what’s weird?” Howard asked, clasping his hands together.

“What?” Tony said, getting more and more anxious.

“It looks more like injuries you’d get in a fight.” Howard purses his lips.

Tony’s heart sank.

_He knows._

“You know?” Tony asked wincing

“I know-“ Howard said softly “-...but I’d like to hear your side of the story. Wanna tell me what happened?”

Tony explained what had happened as well as he could remember. 

“Hm.” Howard nodded when Tony was done.

Tony stared in anticipation. This was the part that he had been worried about. Howard has an expression that Tony couldn’t exactly read, and it worried him.

“I’m really sorry. I- I was really trying today.-“

Howard watched at his clearly disheveled son stood up and started pacing back and forth.

“I was focused in all of my classes and I payed extra attention in the subjects I wasn’t great at and I signed up the science club.-

Tony started to ramble as a feeling of extreme panic came over him even harder than earlier.

“I really tried. I did. I made a fucking thumb drive from scratch in TWO HOURS...You told me to apply myself and I did. But it doesn’t matter if I try to do well or not because I always end up failing.”

Howard raised his eyebrows taken aback by his sons meltdown. But he let him continue.

“I thought moving here would give me a fresh start and now I’m the ass who fought the schools football captain. Just stupid. Maria was right and now you’re gonna send me away too.” Tony said deflated, tears streaming down his face. 

“Hey, dont get yourself riled up ok?-“Howard said, gently pulling Tony to sit down on the bed next to him.

“I tried. I really tried.” Tony said in between sniffs.

“I know you tried. I know you did. It’s ok-“ Howard said gently.

Tony put his head in his hands and leaned his elbows on his knees.

“My first day at MIT. I was walking to my first lecture. I felt so important and so distinguished because I was attending MIT, that I mouthed off to some guy in the hallway.-“ Howard shook his head remembering that day.

“-that guy turned out to be the head director of the engineering division where I’d be studying. He was _less_ than impressed with me for quite a while. But as the year progressed, he took a liking to me and my ideas, and even helped me with some of my original work” 

“I say all that to say, people make mistakes. But learn from them and give it time. Things will work out-“ Howard said putting an assuring hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“-Son this was only the first day.You have the whole rest of the year to get it right.” 

Tony sat up and stared forward blankly at the door.

“...so you’re not mad?” He asked quietly, completely drained.

“_No_. _I’m not mad_.” 

“But you’re disappointed?” Tony asked again

“No. Quite the _opposite_ actually.” Howard said with a half smile.

“What?” Tony asked completely confused.

“You put in an effort during your classes, you signed up for extracurriculars with a full plan to commit to them. You did exactly what we talked about. You tried and that’s all I can ask for. I’m proud of you Tony.” 

Tony furrowed his brow and stood up in front of where Howard was sitting.

“I’m confused. I got into a fistfight and you’re not upset?”

“Well, Id prefer that my son didn’t come home with a bruised face and bloody nose.” Howard chuckled.

“Ok but I messed up!” Tony prompted again, waiting for Howard to get upset.

“Ok-?” Howard shrugged. “Now I’m confused. Did you _want_ me to yell at you or something?” He asked.

“I mean..._no_.” Tony scratches the back of his head. This was so different from what he was used to, and it was not what he was expecting.

“Good. And I’m not going to send you away. I could _never_ do something like that. What would I do without having to drag you out of bed every other day? Or without your _constant_ unsolicited love advice? Or _begging_ you to put your socks in the hamper?-” Howard said making them laugh.

“My point is, you’re my son and I love you. Ok? Nothing you do can change that.”Howard said standing up and opening the door.

“Love you too dad-.” Tony said as he headed to the bathroom. “-I mean that!” He said closing the door.

It made Howard’s night.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony get to know each other a bit!

__

Tony zipped his backpack and begrudgingly headed to lunch. It was Tuesday and the first of five days where he’d be sitting with Steve.

He walked through the hall and to the cafeteria. When he opened the doors to the caf, he scanned the room for an empty table when his eyes landed on Steve sitting by himself.

Tony huffed and walked over to the table.

Steve didn’t even glance up from his sketchpad when he sat down. Tony pulled out the lunch he brought from home and his English textbook. 

He and Steve took turns glancing at one while the other wasn’t looking though The two were silent for the entirety of lunch.

When the bell rang, Tony got up immediately to go to the library for his first tutoring session while Steve gathered his things to go wherever.

They exited the lunchroom on opposite sides and continued in with their day. 

That wasn’t so bad. Just four more days.

Tony thought as he opened the library door and headed to the tables.

He approached the empty wooden table and was just about to sit down when he looked up and saw Steve who had also walked to that table.

Tony rolled his eyes. “_Can I help you_?”

“_Nope_” he responded as he took a seat at the table Tony had picked.

“Ok well I actually picked this table _first_ so hop along” Tony said, motioning for Steve to leave.

“Oh I’m sorry, do you _own_ this table?” Steve looked over the surface of the table and then under it sarcastically. “I don’t see your name”

Tony scoffed because that was something he would do and say but it was aggravating that someone did it to him.

“Ok _listen dude_ I’m not trying to start anything, but I have a tutoring session and I need you to get ou-“

“_You’re the tutor_?” Steve asked flatly

“..._You’re here for the session aren’t you_?” Tony asked in the same tone.

“Yep” Steve said through tight lips.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Tony slowly sat in the chair across from Steve.

He pulled out his chem book, pencils and notebooks, then turned his attention to Steve.

“Ok. You need help with chemistry right?” He said barely looking at him.

“Yeah” Steve huffed.

“Alright well on the next test you’ll have to list all of the elements so let’s start there.” Tony said as the two flipped through the books. 

They sat in silence as they copied down what the book said. Steve reluctantly followed Tony’s orders to write the elements on the periodic table.

Once Steve has a chance to look over the list Tony did a small quiz.

“One?”

“Hydrogen”

“Two?”

”Helium”

“Three?”

“Lithium”

They continued until the end of the periodic table.

“You learn fast-“ Tony said mildly impressed with Steve’s ability to pick things up. “-hour’s up and you already know the periodic table. Not bad” He said packing his supplies.

“Thanks for your help. See you tomorrow” Steve replied, gathering his things and leaving.

Tony sat for a moment later. 

_That wasn’t as bad as I thought. I guess he’s not a complete jerk. _

*****

At lunchtime the next day Tony found Steve sitting at the same cafe table as yesterday. He sat across from Steve who was clearly missing his jock friends by the way he kept glancing over at their usual table.

Tony glanced over at the table where Natasha was tossing grapes into Clint’s mouth. He missed his friends too.

Steve gave Tony a nod as he took the seat across from him.

_More than yesterday._

He had the same sketch pad out as yesterday and whatever he was drawing requires intricate detail. 

Tony pulled out supplies to build another thumb drive while he ate the rest of his lunch in silence.

“Gentlemen.” 

The two looked up from their projects to see superintendent Clark looking down at them.

“Hey Mrs. Clark” Steve said 

“Sup...ma’am” Tony said and tried to fix it.

“Part of settling your differences is actually talking to each other. Put that away and start a conversation” she suggested before walking away.

Tony realllly did not like her.

Both of them hesitantly put their activities away and stared around absently before Steve begrudgingly broke the silence.

“So...do you play any sports?” He asked 

“No.” Tony responded curtly

“Hm. Are you in the arts?”

“Nope.” 

“Well what do you do then?” Steve asked confused

“Science and engineering” Tony said annoyed

“Oh right. You look like you could play basketball...minus you’re height I guess.” Steve said taking note of Tony’s shorter but muscular build.

“I’m really not that short-“ Tony scoffed “I’m 5’9. Besides I’m really not athletically inclined.” Tony replied.

“Hm... Is that the thing you broke?” Steve asked nodding at the hard drive.

“No, it’s the thing _you_ broke” Tony said sitting back in his chair.

“Right...sorry about that” He sighed.

“An apology would’ve been nice before you shoved your fist in my face.” Tony replied being extremely passive aggressive.

“Better late than never right?” He smiled weakly.

“_Wrong_” Tony glared.

“Listen I’m trying to extend an olive branch here ok?” 

Tony thought for a moment.

“Fine.” He agreed but not letting go of his grudge.

“Ok.” Steve nodded once and sat back in his chair, rapping his fingers on the desk.

Tony stares at him for a moment before looking down at the notebook he always had.

“What’s that?”

“My sketchpad”

“You draw?” 

“Yeah a little. I’m an artist actually.” Steve blushes a bit.

“Interesting. I thought you were more of the jock type.” Tony said narrowing his eyes as he analyzed this new information about Steve.

“I am...you can be both” Steve chuckled.

“I mean sure, I’ve just never met an artist who liked a jock or vice versa so meeting a hybrid is kind of...interesting.” Tony said

“A hybrid?Never thought of myself that way.-”  Steve laughed “you know what’s interesting about you?”

“What” Tony said trying to hold back a small smile.

“For you to be a super rich nerd, your personality is kind of like..._the exact opposite_.”

“Elaborate” Tony smiled.

“Ok well for _starters_ the nerds around here are super quiet and keep to themselves. YOU on the other hand-“ 

Steve was cut off by Tony’s laughter and even started laughing himself.

“You are NOT quiet. And for you to be rich...you dress-“

“POOR? are you gonna say I dress poor, Steve?” Tony laughed anticipating Steve’s answer.

“No but you kind of dress like...Emo and stuff i don’t know” 

“HA- you think I’m emo?” Tony laughed harder. 

“Y- I mean you wear all this black! Black shirts, black jeans, black converse. Are you ever happy?!” Steve asked with concern, forming tears of laughter in Tony’s eyes.

“First off-“ Tony said finally catching his breath and wiping tears from his eyes.

“No. I’m never happy. Second of all, I’m not emo I just prefer darker clothes. And third of all I am not a _nerd_, I am a _science enthusiast_.” Tony replies still chuckling.

“Ok science enthusiast.” Steve laughed and shook his head.

Tony was just about to ask Steve another question when the bell rang. 

“Lunch is over already?” Steve asked standing up.

The two of them had been so deep in conversation that they had lost track of time.

“Guess so. Ready for tutoring?” Tony asked.

“Yeah” he said as they started walking towards the library.

“65?”

“Terbium” 

“Hm” Tony nodded in approval.

The two chatted and studied together for the whole hour of tutoring. They’d actually gotten to know each other.

“Nice job today. You’ll be ready to ace the first test in no time.”

“Thanks for your help Tony, I appreciate it.”

“No problem, see you tomorrow” Tony replied as Steve headed to football practice. He sat in his seat and finished one other task before packing his things up to head out.

He grabbed his backpack and headed through the aisles of the library to get to the exit when he felt two sets of hand grab and pull him into one of the aisles. 

He would’ve yelled but one hand covered his mouth.

“_Shhhh_” he heard as they let go of him slowly.

Tony whipped around and saw Natasha and Clint staring at him with amusement.

“You guys what the hell was that?” Tony whisper yelled.

“We haven’t seen you in a while and we miss you” Clint said putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“It’s true. We miss you toby.” Natasha added.

“Oh...I miss you guys too but did you have to _kidnap_ me?” He said smoothing out his hair after the ordeal.

“I mean...yeah-” Clint smiled “that’s how we do things. Anyway we were headed to your house so do you wanna come?”

“Wh- you were headed to _my_ house?” Tony asked completely confused.

“Yeah” Clint answered as if it made perfect sense.

“But why?” 

“We need a new hangout spot” Clint scoffed

“Got something to hide Tobes?” Natasha glared playfully.

“I mean...no? But why did you ask if I wanted to come? It’s my house” Tony laughed.

“Just come on bro, lead the way” Clint said turning Tony around and putting his hands on his shoulders to push him out the door. 

***

Tony couldn’t help but notice the nonstop look of awe that Clint had on his face at all of the huge mansion-like houses they passed on the way to his home. 

“My house is big... but these are huge. I mean just look at the architecture.” Clint said 

“That was a big word, good job Clint” Natashasaid sarcastically.

“Tony your house has a gate?” Clint said with excitement as he watched Tony jump and climb over it. 

“Yeah” Tony replied as he pulled out his keys and unlocked the gate from the inside letting them in.

“Wow Toby, this is nice.” Nat nodded, taking in the full view of the frontside of the mansion.

“Thanks” he said, leading them up to and through the roundabout driveway.

“You guys hungry?” Tony said closing the door behind them as they entered the foyer.

“Yeah I’m starving” Clint agreed following Tony into the kitchen.

“Help yourself” he said opening the door to the large pantry revealing shelves of chips and cookies and crackers. All kinds of stuff.

“_Whoa_...” was all that Clint could mutter.

Tony went over to the fridge and grabbed a large bowl of fruit salad for Nat.

“A vegetarian option, Bon appetit!” He said eating a grape.

“Clint that’s disgusting” Nat said as Clint stacked a red dorito on a blue dorito and ate the whole thing.

“It’s called _innovation_,” he replied with his mouth full.

Tony pulled out three sodas and sat them on the counter. 

“Wait do you really expect me to drink a soda that isn’t from the surf shop?” Clint said with disgust, watching Tony open his.

“The thing about these is they’re just sodas they aren’t liquid suicide!” Tony said sarcastically.

“Tuh! And YOU-“ Clint fussed pointing at nat. “-I’d expect it from _him_, but YOU?” He said in contempt as Natasha downed hers too.

“Disgusting” he shook his head as the other two shrugged.

Jarvis walked in the kitchen holding a newspaper (per usual).

“Oh hello! Tony you didn’t tell me we had guests!” 

“Wow! It’s so nice to finally meet you Mr. Stark, What an honor! Tony I didn’t know your father was British!” Clint said extending a cheese covered hand out to Jarvis.

“No” Tony shook his head.

“I’m not Howard. I’m Jarvis, the Butler” Jarvis laughed as Clint’s face turned beet red.

“Sorry he doesn’t get out much-.” Natasha 

cracked. “-I’m Nat, nice to meet you.” She said shaking his hand. 

“Nice to meet you! And you as well Clint.” He said smiling at the boy who’s mouth was full once again before heading out.

“Can we see your room?” Clint asked eagerly.

“Yeah but we gotta clean this up first or my dad will kill me.” Tony said rolling down the bags of chips.

“Darn right. Hello everyone!” Howard said as he walked into the kitchen.

“Oh hey dad, Clint _this_ is my dad.” 

“Oh Mr. Stark sir it’s so nice to meet you! I’m Clint Tony’s _best_ friend.”Clint said grinning.

“Ah Clint! You’re the one who backflipped off of the Hollywood sign?”

“Yes sir that’s me” Clint said proudly.

“And Natasha I remember you from the ice cream shop, good to see you again.” Howard said as he opened the fridge to get a cup of jello.

“You too.” Nat nodded.

“Tony i know it took me a while but I finally signed you up for drivers ed!” Howard exclaimed.

“You don’t know how to drive?” Clint asked

“_I mean_-“ Tony started to explain. 

“No! No he can _not_!” Howard interjected shaking his head, making them all laugh.

“He didn’t tell me he didn’t know how to drive until after he started driving one of my favorite classics.” 

“That sounds like Tony.” Natasha laughed. “I always wondered why I never saw you driving. I guess that’s why.”

“In my defense there was no fuckin way Maria was gonna give me a _car_.” Tony justified.

“_Language_!” Howard said with a mouth full of jello, smacking Tony on the back of the head and making them laugh again.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say the _M_ word” Tony snickered.

“You _know_ that’s not what I meant, you are such a _nuisance_.” Howard rolled his eyes and laughed.

“That he is.” Nat agreed.

“Very true” Clint joined in

“ANYWAY!!! We were heading upstairs so we’ll see you later dad.” Tony said gesturing for them to exit the kitchen.

_Those three._

Howard thought to himself as they headed up.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony realizes...he miiiight have a crush.

By Friday all the tension between Steve and Tony had completely dissolved and they had actually became friends.

“I’m just saying a Walkman isn’t going to help you if you’re deserted on an island!” Steve laughed.

“Ok well I’m good as dead without my tunes so i dont know.” Tony shrugged while Steve laughed on. 

“No no no. You need something strong, reliable...something that can help or defend you.” Steve said with a passionate gleam in his eye. 

“Fine...I’d pick you. You’re all of those things.” Tony decided.

Steve paused and even blushed a bit.

“Oh- you would? Why?” He stuttered out.

“Logically speaking, You play football- strong. You’re very committed to your activities and responsibilities- reliable. And you gave me a black eye- you could _definitely_ defend me if need be.” Tony replied.

Steve scratched the back of his head. 

“Yeah I mean- yeah I guess you’re right.” He agreed hesitantly.

“Yeah- are you nervous? I mean it’s not like we’re actually gonna get deserted on an island” Tony laughed taking note of Steve’s antsy behavior.

“No no- I’m good.” Steve nodded.

“Hmmkaay-“ Tony sighed. “Hey can I see your drawings?” He asked pointing to Steve’s sketch pad sitting on the table.

“Oh...ok sure.” Steve agreed and flipped through a couple pages to find a finished product.

It was an in depth sketch of a particular sunset on the ocean. It was beautiful.

“Steve wow...this is really good-“ Tony said flipping to the next page which was of the same thing but a seemingly different angle. 

“Wow what is this place?” 

“The local surfers call it lookout point.” Steve smiled.

“Do you surf?” Tony said as he looked on at the pictures.

“Yeah a little. I really am a beach guy.” Steve nodded.

“Wow is there anything you don’t do?” Tony asked face in awe.

“Quidditch” Steve answered.

“Dude” Tony rolled his eyes and laughed.

“I could take you there sometime if you want.” Steve said rubbing the back of his neck, still a bit nervous

“I’d love that!” Tony beamed as he handed the book back over the table.

The bell rang and the two stood up. They didn’t tutor on Fridays. Steve had a game tonight and Tony had a meeting with the science club.

On the way to the science lab Tony couldn’t stop thinking about his lunch with Steve.

_Steve is so funny, and he’s got such a nice laugh. Why is he such a great artist? Why is he great at everything? He’s so talented._

_ And he’s smart too, wow yeah he’s really smart, why does he even need my help with science? His thinking face is so cute. Actually he’s cute...and handsome._

Tony squinted at himself and came to a realization.

_Dammit. I have crush on Steve. _

****

After the introductions at the beginning of class, Tony walked over to where Bruce was sitting.

Being chemistry partners and all, the two were comrades and enjoyed each other’s scientific opinions and ideas.

They’d even hung outside of school a few times. 

“Hey Bruce! Did you do the chem homework from Wednesday yet?” 

“Yeah, I did it on Wednesday” Bruce replied.

“Of course you did” Tony chuckled.

“Hey so the first science competition is at the end of the semester and I was gonna ask if you wanted to be partners? If not that’s ok I can find someone else I just thought since we alre-“

“_Bruce_-“ Tony cut off his nervous rambling, something he’d learned to. “Yes I’ll be your partner. Do you have any ideas?

“Well I figured since you’re good with bots maybe we could build one?” 

“Ok sounds good! What kind of bot?”

“I have nooo idea” 

“Ok. Well it’s fine, we have time.”

“Yeah. How’ve your lunches with Steve been going?” Bruce asked

Tonys heart skipped a quick beat out of nervousness that Bruce might know about his new crush.

“Oh...fine thanks.”

“Yeah...you like him don’t you?” Bruce asked knowingly.

Tony’s face fell.

“How? How do you know things before I tell you? You do this all the time!” Tony pleaded whispering loudly. 

“I dunno I just do I guess. But it’s true?”

“I mean...I guess. I just realized it today but I don’t know, even though I hated him that first day at lunch I couldn’t ignore that he’s kind of nice to look at.

“Something about those blondes” Bruce smiled fondly, thinking of T.

He had been dating one of the star players on the basketball team, everyone called him T and no one asked what it stood for. 

“Yeah” Tony agreed.

“Well i dont know a whole bunch about Steve so I can’t help you too much. But as many cheerleaders and popular chicks flirt with him, I’ve never seen him go out with one. _Ever_. Do with that information what you will.”

Tony nodded and thought for a while.

*****

Tony had been distractedly skimming over his homework for an hour before he glanced over at the alarm clock on his nightstand. 

_9:58_

He headed down to the kitchen and saw Howard grabbing the ice cream out of the freezer. 

“Hey dad” he said, going over to the cabinets and pulling out two bowls.

“Hey! Chocolate, Vanilla, or both?” He asked

Tony turned to look at him as if the answer was completely obvious.

Howard nodded and pulled out both cartons.

A while back, they had established their annual Friday night tradition of coming to the kitchen at ten pm and catching up over ice cream.

One of the many things that were different about living with his dad. They actually wanted to hang out.

“So after Monday it seemed like your week got a bit better, yes?”

“Yeah it did, the rest wasn’t all that bad.”

“Good! Do you like this better than private school?”

“Infinitely. It’s nice to be able to wear my own clothes.” 

“That is a plus.” Howard nodded.

“Yeah” Tony said looking down into his bowl of ice cream. He looked back up a moment later and saw that Howard was staring straight at him.

“What?” Tony questioned

“You’re holding back and making small talk. Why?” 

Howard was too observant for his own good. But Tony wasn’t really making it difficult. His new crush had been on his mind all day.

“What? No I’m not!” Tony scoffed.

“You are.” 

“Am not!” 

“Are too.” Howard replied eating another spoonful from his bowl.

“Hey you don’t have to tell me what it is. But just know, I know.” He nodded.

Tony glared at his dad and huffed.

“You have a crush don’t you? I can see it in your eye.” Howard laughed and Tony’s eyes widened.

“What?” Tony blinked

“Oh you make this too easy Tony” Howard chuckled shaking his head

“I-“ Tony just stuttered as Howard looked him in the eye.

Tony stared back and it was silent between the two until they both broke into a laughing fit. 

“Ok ok-“ Tony sighed and wiped his hand down his face. “-you got me.”

Howard immediately started doing his best Tony impression cracking the both of them up.

“_Ooooooohh Tony’s in lovvvve? Awww TOOONYYY I havent seen you bluuuuush beforeee! Have you kissed yeeett?” _

“MY VOICE IS NOT THAT HIGH!” Tony fussed.

“When you’re prying into my business it is. But nevermind that, whose the crush?” 

Tony started to get nervous. He had dated and had crushes on guys before but Maria had never known about it. He wasnt sure how Howard would feel about it either.

“Uhh you know just...someone from school.”

“Annnd?” Howard pressed.

“And...that’s all I’m saying” Tony grinned as he went to rinse his bowl.

“Oh cmon I’m on pins and needles!” Howard laughed.

“I’m sorry but you’ll have to until the next episode.” Tony said heading out of the kitchen and up to his room.

He ran from his doorway and catapulted himself onto the bed. 

“I’ll say son, you’ve done a pretty good job keeping your room clean. It just these socks! They never make it to the hamper somehow.”  


Howard chuckled, coming in the room and picking up loose pairs.

“Sorry” Tony muffled through his pillow.

“It’s fine” Howard dragged the covers from underneath Tony and pulled them overtop of him.

“Goodnight, Young man. I love you.” Howard said kissing Tony’s head.

“Night, love you too.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of fun in this chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I’ve been taking so long to post! I should be posting a few more updates this week!

Howard had finished yet another magazine and was still waiting. He had taken Tony to the DMV for his license test and had been sitting there for about three hours.

He was just about to pick another one when Tony ran out and stood in front of him with the hugest grin on his face.

“There you are! How’d it go?” Howard asked standing up and stretching his legs.

Tony smiled and pulled the license from his back pocket, putting it in front of Howard.

“First try!”

“That’s excellent son! Go stand over in front of that wall so I can take your picture.” Howard said pulling out his camera.

He took the picture of Tony with his new license and looked down at the camera. 

“Good! Ready to go?” He smiled.

“Yeah but can I drive Betty? Please let me drive Betty!” Tony begged as they walked out of the building.

The smile on Howard’s face quickly dissolved into a cringe.

Betty was the name of Howard’s vintage Mercedes. And it was one of his favorites.

“I don’t know Ton-“

“PLEAAAAASEE”

“...Ok ok fine. But one scratch Tony! One scratch and _I’ll have to kill you_.” Howard warned.

“Deal!” Tony said eagerly taking the keys and sitting in the drivers seat.

He ran his hand over the steering wheel, savoring the moment since it could very well be his last.

As he turned the key in the ignition and put the car in drive he glanced at Howard who was holding his seatbelt tight and glaring back at him.

“One. Scratch.” Howard mouthed silently.

“Don’t _worry_ I won’t _scratch_ it” Tony laughed pulling off smoothly, a big contrast to the first time he tried to drive Howard.

He took smooth turns and followed traffic instructions well. When they got home and pulled into the garage, Tony turned to Howard and smirked. 

“You can breathe now.”

“I’m impressed.” Howard smiled getting out of the car and catching the keys Tony tossed over. 

“Thank you.” Tony said proudly

“Yeah. Guess I’ve got to get you a car now don’t I?” Howard sighed.

“Yep! Unless you just want to give me Betsy?” Tony shrugged following his dad into the house.

“_When hell freezes over_.” Howard retorted.

“Eh we’ll talk about it.” Tony laughed

*******

Tony and Bruce sat at a table in the library with a ton of books open and papers strewn about.

“What are we going to name it because I’m not calling him farmbot the whole time” Tony said looking over at Bruce.

“We have time to name it later Tony.” Bruce said scribbling something down on the paper.

“Solar powered agricultural resource tool. S.P.A.R.T.!” Tony exclaimed.

The two of them had decided to create a robotic agricultural system for their project.

“You really can’t help yourself can you?” Bruce laughed.

“I have little to no self control.” Tony said turning over a large poster board to show Bruce.

“Whoa. That’s amazing. If those are just the blueprints I think we’re guaranteed a spot at nationals.” Bruce said in awe as he started closing the books.

“I’m ready to start building whenever. We could probably use my dads lab I doubt he’d mind.” Tony said gathering the papers on the table and putting them away.

“That would be amazing. Could we do it this weekend?” 

“Sure, how about Saturday?” 

“Yeah see you then.” Bruce replied.

Tony headed out of the library and was on his way out of the school doors when a car pulled up beside him.

“Hey Tony! Need a ride home?” Steve asked

As much as Tony had thought about Steve lately, he hadn’t really seen him much so this sudden interaction caught him off guard.

“Oh uh- no I can walk thanks.” He replied

“Are you sure? I really don’t mind.” Steve insisted.

“...ok sure” Tony smiled.

He came around and sat in the passenger side of the convertible.

“Why are you leaving so late today?” Steve asked pulling out of the parking lot.

“Oh I was working on a project with Bruce. What about you?”Tony asked, noticing as the car picked up speed and Steve’s hair started blowing in the wind.

_So cliche._

“Football practice.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah.”

“Got plans this weekend?” Tony asked.

“Eh not really.”

“No date with some hot cheerleader?” Tony chuckled, he remembered what Bruce had said and decided to see if it was true.

“No they’re uh..._not really my type._” Steve smiled awkwardly.

“Oh really? Interesting. And what’s your _type_ then?”

Steve pauses for a moment before he takes the huge risk.

“...Emo science enthusiasts actually.” He said blushing hard.

Tony was speechless. He hadn’t expected Steve to be so forward, but he played it off cool.

“Hm. Good to know.” He smiled laying his head back onto the headrest. “Turn left”

Steve took a breath of relief.

“Do you have plans this weekend?” Steve asked

“Bruce and I are working on the project Saturday but I’m free that night.”  Tony said hoping Steve wanted to go out.  “Another left”

“Cool, well this new skating rink is opening on Friday, do you wanna go?” 

“Yeah that sounds awesome.-“ Tony said as they pulled up to the gate at his house.

“Thanks for the ride...and here’s my number. Call me tomorrow. He said.

“I will! See you tomorrow night.”

“Bye” Tony called out as he went through the gate and headed up the driveway.

_He had a date with Steve._

******

Tony was sleeping peacefully, dreaming sweet dreams. Then out of nowhere he was being jostled awake.

“Tony hurry you have to get up!”

“Huh? Wh- what’s wrong” Tony stammered trying to wake up.

“There’s no time! Hurry!” Howard fussed pulling tony out of his bed and onto his feet.

“Wh- what’s going on?” Tony asked stumbling behind Howard, eyes barely open.

“I can’t explain right now you just have to wait!” Howard said with worry as he led them down the steps.

“You’re scaring me!” Tony said following Howard to the back door that led in front of the garage.

“Come on!” Howard said pulling Tony through the door and outside.

“Dad what’s-“

“SURPRISE!!” Howard and Jarvis yelled putting their arms out like they were presenting something.

_And they were._

Right before Tony was a 1990 dodge mustang convertible. The moonlight reflected off of the bright shiny red finish. 

Tony stood there in a confused daze for a moment letting the event register. 

“_What in the world you guys_?” He laughed tiredly walking over to the car.

“Do you like it?” Jarvis asked laughing from behind the camera he’d been videoing Tony with.

Tony ran a hand over the hood of the car, admiring the finish.

“I love it!” 

“Great!...._where are your clothes_?” Jarvis asked, camera capturing Tony in nothing but his Hey Arnold boxers.

“I already told you I don’t wear pajamas” He said as Howard tossed over the keys.

“_Hm_.” Jarvis muttered in disapproval.

“Wow this is really nice guys! But what time is it?” Tony laughed

“Around two am.” Howard said nonchalantly.

“Ok well is there a reason you guys had to scare the bejeezus out of me orrr?” Tony asked from the drivers seat.

“...nope!” Howard and Jarvis replied in unison.

“Interesting. Did _Peggy_ have a hand in this? _Seems_ like something she’d have a hand in!” Tony said directly into the camera.

As no nonsense as Peggy was, she had quite the taste for playful antics. Something she and Tony had in common.

“She gave the idea to surprise you, but scaring you out ofyour beauty rest was completely our idea!” Howard said.

Tony shook his head. “Well Thank you Dad this is really nice!” He said standing up and closing the driver side door.

“You’re very welcome and I’m glad you like it-“ Howard replied as they all went back in the house. “-Your curfew is eleven though!”

Tony quickly scurried off to pretend like he hadn’t heard that last part.

******

Tony who usually worked with loud music playing in the background was forced to compromise and turn it down some while Bruce was helping.

The two had been working for the better part of the day. Bruce had been working on the lay out of the electronic controlled farm, while Tony had been focused on building the bot that went along with it.

‘Don’t you want me’ Bounced through the lab as the two worked diligently.

Tony shook his hips to the beat while Bruce bopted around with his shoulders before they both belted out the chorus.

“DONT YOU WANT ME BABYY, DONT YOU WANT ME OHHHHHH!!”

Tony brought the piece he’d been working on over to where Bruce was sitting and connected it to the other pieces. 

So far they had a mini garden contained in a three tier metal box that was a foot in height.

The top tier would be the garden. The middle tier would be the resource chamber. And the third tier would be where the technology is stored.

Tony had been working on the bottom box and adjusting the codes for its launching all day. Bruce had been working on the resource chamber which held water, fertilizer, and a mini claw for weeding. 

They still had solar panels to build and connect to the bot and they also had to get the plant matter to put on the top tier. But their project was definitely coming along.

“It’s almost six, wanna call it a day?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah I’m gonna need at least an hour to wash all of this grease and oil off of my hands. What are you doing tonight?” Tony asked, sitting his tools down.

“T and I are going to the movies, he really wants to see Men In Black.” Bruce chuckled. “What about you?”

“Oh uh...I’m going out with Steve actually.” He laughed nervously.

“WHAT!! YOU ASKED HIM OUT?!” Bruce shouted excitedly.

“First of all _lower your voice_, second of all he asked me out. He called me earlier and we’re meeting at seven. We’re going to that new roller skating rink.” Tony smiled 

“....wow. I’m very happy for you!” Bruce said grabbing his stuff as they headed upstairs.

“Thanks I’ll let you know how it goes on Monday. Have fun with T!” Tony said letting Bruce out the front door.

“Ok see you later” Bruce replied walking to his car. 

Tony closed the front door and went up to his room to shower and get ready for his date.

********

After showering, Tony put on a NASA tee and a pair of denim wash jeans. He put on black converse and went to the mirror to brush his hair before heading downstairs.

He closed his bedroom door and walked down the steps. He went to the living room where Howard was reading a book next to Peggy who had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

“Hey son! How’d everything go with Bruce?” Howard asked quietly.

“Good! We made a lot of progress...I’m gonna head out for a while with a friend.” Tony added.

A smile crept up on Howard’s face.

“_A friend_?” He asked 

“Yes, _a friend_.” Tony smiled

“Wellll have fun with your _friend_.” Howard chuckled turning back to his book.

“I will”

“Please be careful! And be home by eleven!” He called out quietly.

*******

Tony pulled out of the driveway and made his way to the roller rink. The overwhelming feeling of having a mutual crush was putting him on cloud nine.

It was almost comical how they went from hating each other to going on a date. 

Tony turned into the parking lot and checked his watch. 

_7:05_

He parked and looked up to see Steve standing by the door.

Tony gave his hair a once over in the rear view mirror before hopping out of the car and walking over to Steve.

“Hey!” Steve said coming off the wall and walking towards Tony.

“Hi!” 

“NASA huh?” Steve nodded to Tony’s shirt.

“I wore it for you-“ Tony smiles shyly. “You said you liked science enthusiasts.” He said walking through the door Steve held open for him.

The speakers blasted ‘Jump Around’ at max volume and the strobe lights took a moment for their eyes to get used to.

They took in the sight of all the other people skatingand playing games in the arcade while they walked to the skate rental.

“I’m gonna tell you now that I am not the worlds best skater” Steve laughed lacing his up.

“Are you any good?” He asked

“Not to _brag_ but...yeah I’m actually _really_ good.” Tony said standing up. 

“That doesn’t surprise me one bit. This seems like something you’d be good at.

Very Tony-esque.”

Tony laughed but took note of the details Steve paid attention to.

“Been a while since I’ve done this.” Steve said rolling into the hardwood one foot at a time.

Tony transitioned from the carpet to the hardwood effortlessly before offering his hand to Steve.

“Here, I won’t let you fall!” He said loud enough for Steve to hear over the booming speakers.

They glided smoothly together across the floor and around the circle a few times before going to hang on the wall for a minute.

“You’ve got it! Now go backwards!” Tony suggested.

“BACKWARDS? Have you lost your MIND? I could get a concussion!” Steve fussed back in disbelief.

“You’re a football player, you probably already have a concussion. Just try!” Tony pushed.

“Fine. _Only for you_. How do I do it?” Steve agreed making Tony blush a bit.

“Just push yourself off the wall and glide one foot at a time. You’ve got this!” Tony patted his shoulder.

“I’ll go with you. Just go on the beat of the song. The spice girls will guide you. Now push off on three. One-“

Steve pushed off before Tony was done counting.

“Ok, that’s fine too.” Tony laughed and skated after him.

Steve started to get the hang of skating and was doing great keeping up with Tony’s speed even if he couldn’t pull off any tricks.

After a few more laps they decided to take a break and eat. 

They split some fries and both got slushees, the blue one staining Tony’s mouth.

“Your skating has improved greatly within an hour, I’m impressed sir.” Tony congratulated Steve.

“All thanks to my teacher! I could be the next Tonya Harding but ya know...on roller skates.”

“Ah yes but hopefully without the whole assaulting your opponent scandal.” Tony laughed.

“IT WAS NEVER PROVEN!” Steve yelled, cracking the two of them up.

“Attention skaters! In fifteen minutes we’ll be hosting a lip sync battle and the winner will get a prize, to sign up visit the skate rental!”

“You gotta do that!” Steve beamed 

“What? No it’s probably just gonna be a bunch of kids anyway.” Tony said eating another fry.

“Nope! You have to be 13 for all of their activities and look at the line. Most of them have got to be older than you.” Steve replied.

He had a point. Most of the people there were adults.

“Please Tony. I _have_ to see this.” Steve pleaded.

“...Fine. _Only for you_.” Tony replied as he stood and rolled over to the rental counter.

“Ok you’ll wait in line by the entrance to the floor. Each participant gets thirty seconds of a song that we pick. Roll out and keep your back turned to the audience until the music starts. You must skate for the entirety of your turn. At the end the audience will pick the winner by applause. Winner gets to pick whatever they want from the gift shop and a free slushee. Sign your name on the paper.” The employee explained less than enthusiastically.

Before signing his name Tony glanced over at Steve who put two thumbs up.

He signed his name and lined up behind a few others to wait his turn. He was number six.

Steve was absolutely beaming waiting for Tony’s turn. Many of the others did a great job and were very entertaining. The fourth one was a young woman who had done California love, and had even managed to land a backflip on skates.

Now it was Tony’s turn. He rolled out to the middle of the floor and waited for his song to play.

_I hope I know the words to this song or it’s going to be very awkward._

When the song started, Tony got straight into character. 

And he _absolutely_ knew the words.

“Hiya Barbie!”

“Hi ken!” Tony synced waving vigorously, making the audience crack up.

“Wanna go for a ride?” 

“Sure ken!” pushing off and twirling his hair around between his fingers.

As the chorus took off he added choreography, rolling his hips and striking poses with the music.

The rest of the skaters clapped and laughed.

“I’m a blond bimbo girl in your fantasy world dress me up make me tight I’m your dolly!” He synced throwing in multiple pierhouettes.

“You can touch, you can play, if you say I’m always yours!” Tony said touching his chest and dragging his hands up to run through his hair.

“I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie wooorld!”

He did so well it looked like he’d choreographed it beforehand. He skated off effortlessly after the music had finished out, getting high fives from the other skaters and people who had watched.

Tony went to the line to wait for the others to finish when he realized that the people behind him had quit the contest. 

“All lip sync participants center floor please!”

The skaters made a line in the middle of the floor and the judging began as the announcer went through all the numbers.

Each participant got a good amount of applause, there were some really good performers.

But everyone already knew who was going to win.

“Number six!” 

The crowd cheered way louder for Tony than anyone else, even the other skaters rooted for him.

“The winner is...NUMBER SIX!” 

Tony skated forward and gave a bow as the crowd continued cheering. 

He finally got past all the people congratulating him and made it back to where Steve was standing by their table.

“That. Was. _Amazing_. Hands down the best performance I’ve ever seen in my life!” He chuckled. “I mean you REALLY delivered.” 

“Thank you! But it’s kind of funny all these people are making such a big deal out of this, it’s just a lip sync battle.” He shrugged picking up a cold fry and biting it.

“Tony, everyone else got thirty seconds. They played the whole song during your turn!” Steve said.

“Really?” Tony’s brow furrowed as he put the fry back down.

“Yeah! You were _really_ _good_!” Steve laughed

“It’s getting late, wanna go get your prizes?”

Tony checked his watch again.

_10:36_

“Yeah let’s see what they’ve got in the gift shop.”

After a few minutes of looking around, Tony picked out a telescope and two matching slap bracelets. 

He grabbed his free slushee from the snack counter and headed out with Steve who carried the box with the telescope over to his car for him.

The two stood over by Tony’s car and said their goodbyes.

“I had a really great time tonight!” Tony said pulling out the slap brackets and stepping closer to Steve.

“Me too! Hopefully we can go out again soon?” Steve said stepping closer to Tony.

Tony gently took Steve’s wrist into his hand and slapped the bracelet on.

“I’d like that.” Tony said shyly.

As he let go of Steve’s wrist, Steve grabbed Tony’s hand and interlocked their fingers, smiling at hI’m.

Tony looked up at Steve and smiled back before they both leaned in to kiss the other. It didn’t last super long, but long enough for both of them to be overcome with butterflies.

“See you Monday?” Steve asked after they pulled away.

“See you Monday.” Tony replied getting into his car to head home.

He checked his watch one more time as he pulled into the driveway.

_11:13_

_Dang it. Hopefully dad isn’t mad._

He parked his car and headed in the house through the backdoor. 

He walked through the kitchen and into the foyer to take the steps up to his bedroom when Howard came through the front door.

“Hey! How was your night?” Howard asked, sitting his keys down on the little table.

“Great! I had an awesome time.” Tony said trying to contain his excitement.

“Wonderful...is that a _telescope_?” Howard asked.

“Yeah I won it in a lip sync battle.” Tony nodded.

“I see. Well you’ll have to tell me all about it tomorrow, I’m beat.”

“Sure. Where are you getting in from this late?” Tony asked.

“Oh I took Peg home.” Howard nodded

“Ah. What did you guys do tonight?” Tony asked holding back a chuckle.

“Well we watched a movie but that’s about it.” Howard shrugged

“_About_?” Tony smirked

“Yeah what else do you want me to say?” Howard chuckled.

“Oh nothing. Goodnight!” Tony turned and started up the stairs before pausingto look back at Howard who had a look of confusion.

“Wipe that smug grin off your face.”

“Wipe Peggy’s lipstick off _your_ face!” Tony said extremely satisfied with his comeback as his dad rubbed a finger on the corner of his mouth and looked at it to find the lipstick stain.

“Goodnight!” Howard said nonchalantly and headed out of the foyer.

Tony laughed and headed up to his room.

_What a night._


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony’s idea for Howard’s birthday gift is gonna require some digging. So Tony goes back to his home in San Bernardino.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this is a given but i want to emphasize the fact that the majority of this fic is non canon compliant! Anyways, hope you’re all enjoying this! Let me know in the comments.
> 
> Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!

The sweet aroma of baked goods flowed all the way up the stairs and right to Tony’s bedroom.

Tony peeled his eyes open and looked at his alarm clock.

_11:27_

He yawned and stretched and stood to his feet. He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth before throwing on a pair of sweats and a t shirt to go downstairs.

Has Jarvis been baking? Tony thought as he walked downstairs still dreary eyed.

When he walked in the kitchen he saw Peggy and Howard leaning on the counter, shoulder to shoulder and reading over a recipe.

“See it’s three eggs, I told you.” Howard chuckled at Peggy who rolled her eyes.

“Ok well when I put two it comes out perfect!” Peggy insisted.

“ Perfectly _dry_.” Howard muttered as Peggy slapped his arm playfully.

“Look who decided to join us!” Peggy laughed wrapping her arm around him and placing a kiss on the side of his head.

Tony leaned into Peggy and turned into a complete baby. He and Peggy had hit it off after their first real meeting and were quite close.

In Tony’s opinion, Peggy was more of a mother than Maria ever had been.

“Morning son, looks like you slept well!” Howard smiled looking at Tony’s messy hair.

“Yeah...What are you guys _doing_ ?” Tony asked, gesturing to the dozens of cakes and cupcakes covering the counters.

“_I’m_ teaching him how to bake, _he’s_ acting like an expert despite not knowing the difference between baking soda and baking powder _less than five minutes ago._”

“Here Tony, tell us which one is better.” Howard said with a smirk, handing Tony two cupcakes.

Peggy and Howard watched as Tony took a bite out of one, swallowed and took a bite out of the other.

He sucked his teeth and paused for a second before announcing the better one.

“The second one. Definitely the second one, first one was too moist.”

A smile of extreme satisfaction came over Peggy. The smirk on Howard’s face was replaced with a scoff and an eyeroll.

“Playing favorites” Howard rolled his eyes.

“You’re right, the first one _was_ my favorite.” Tony quipped finishing the rest of the cupcake before Howard launched a spoonful of flour at his face.

“_Someone’s_ not getting a birthday gift.” Tony said playfully, wiping the flour off of his nose.

Howard’s Birthday was coming up Sunday and Peggy and some of Howard’s other friends were organizing a surprise gala for it.

Howard was just about to respond with something snarky when his pager went off.

“Be right back.” Howard said, leaving the kitchen and taking the call.

“I’m so excited to give him his gift” Tony said making he and Peggy laugh.

“What are you giving him?” Peggy asked leaning on the counter.

“I’m not telllinnng!” Tony chuckled

“ _Wow._ ..then no more cupcakes.” Peggy said, sliding the platter away from him.

Tony’s mouth dropped open.

“ _Fine_ I’ll give you a hint... _picture_ .” He whispered.

Peggy paused and then nodded, handing Tony a sprinkle off of a cupcake.

“Is- this is all I get?” Tony laughed

“Well all you gave me was _picture_ .” She blinked.

“You are so petty!” He said laughing again.

********

“Hey man, I appreciate you coming with me.” Tony said as Clint got in the passenger seat of his car.

“No problem dude! I promise anything I learn on this trip stays between the two of us.” Clint promised, knowing how sensitive Tony was about his past.

“Thanks...How are you and Nat?” Tony asked

Clint’s face lit up as he pulled his shirt collar down a bit to reveal a hickey.

“I-  _alright then_ .” Tony laughed.

You never knew what you’d get from Clint.

They chatted and blasted Tony’s AC/DC cassette all the way back to his hometown of San Bernardino. 

“Did you go to any of these places?” Clint asked at a stoplight pointing to a few shops on the strip.

“Yeah I used to steal candy from that store all the time, keep your head down.” Tony replied cautiously.

“Stupid” Clint laughed

Tony pulled into a gas station parking lot and they hopped out to get snacks.

Tony went up to the counter to pay for a tank of gas while Clint grabbed some chips and cookies.

“Tony?” The guy behind the counter asked.

“Hey Quill!” 

“Oh my god what are you doing here? We’ve missed you dude!” Quill beamed

Clint peered over the snack shelves to get a look at Tony and his old friend.

“I’m just in town to grab a few things. How’ve you been?” 

“I’ve been pretty chill. The band is playing at a party tonight, you should come!” He replies as Clint came up behind Tony with their snacks.

“Oh I wish I could but I won’t be here. This is Clint by the way.”

“Hey Clint nice to meet you-“ Quill stuck out his hand to shake Clint’s. “I’m Quill. Tony and I were in a band together before he moved out to Malibu!”

“Ah Tony had mentioned that!”

“Yeah. Things aren’t the same without you dude. The parties just aren’t as fun. You should’ve  seen this guy at parties.-“ Quill said looking back at Clint. “He can _realllly_ hold his alcohol. Tony remember that time you got high and skateboarded off the diving board?” He laughed cracking up.

“Nope not really but I remember getting stitches.” Tony chuckled nervously.

“Yeah but anyway it’s really cool seeing you dude!” Quill said handing Tony the receipt.

“See ya later” Tony said following Clint out.

They got in the car and Tony opened his chips before backing out of the parking space.

They snacked quietly for a while as Tony drove.

“Off of the  _diving board_ huh?” Clint nodded.

“SHUT UP” Tony laughed.

“Listen I’m not judging...I just don’t know how you’re still alive.” Clint chuckled.

“Yeah. I did some crazy shit.” Tony shook his head.

“So...am I gonna like...meet your mom?” Clint asked gently.

“ _God_ I hope not.” Tony sighed and pulled into his old neighborhood. “...But you might” He said nervously.

Luckily there was no car in the driveway when he got there. Tony let out a sigh of relief even though his anxiety was creeping up on him.

They stepped out and headed up the steps to the front door. Tony pulled a small key out of his back pocket and unlocked the doors with it.

Clint put a reassuring hand on Tonys shoulder, noticing that he opened the door but paused before entering.

“We won’t be here long.” Tony said, more for his own comfort than to inform Clint.

Clint followed Tony up the steps and past many closed doors that all looked the exact same. 

Tony stopped in front of one on their left and opened the door.

It was his room. Or at least it used to be.

The bed had a regular dark blue comforter and the nightstand beside it had a picture of Tony at the beach when he was around five years old.

There was a bookshelf in the corner decorated with awards and trophies and certificates all with Tony’s name.

Everything else was gone. the room was empty and completely devoid of any kind of personality.

“Is this how you left it?” Clint asked.

“Yeah” Tony lied before shutting the door back. He had actually left it quite messy from the breakdowns he’d had the week he left. Posters had been ripped, sheets cut, things strewn over the floor. The room had been in disarray after and walking a bit further down the hallway to pull down the attic door.

Clint followed Tony up the little steps before stepping into the attic and clicking on the light.

The attic was surprisingly clean and organized for an attic. Tony made a beeline for a bookshelf filled with boxes while Clint wandered over to another corner with a little table.

He crouched down and saw filled coloring pages and crayons and marbles and action figures. All of these children’s toys spanned across the table and the floor in the corner.

“I preferred to play up here. Attics add a bit of mystery to playtime. And it was the only place I could be loud” Tony said.

“Hm. I see you wrote on the wall a lot.” Clint laughed.

“Yeah I used to get spanked for writing curse words on the wall.” Tony chuckled, glancing up at the scribbles and drawings

He was digging through boxes, looking for Howard’s old cameras and pictures.

Out of all the boxes he searched, he found three cameras, and a few pictures of them together.

One was of Tony on Howard’s shoulders, with his little hands over Howard’s eyes.

Another one was of Tony around the same age as in the first one. He was crying and Howard was holding him and making a pouty face.

He put those in the box with the cameras and stood on his toes to reach the top shelf and pull down a little shoebox.

He choked on a bit of dust as he pulled the top off, revealing dozens of big and small envelopes. 

“ _Shit_ ”

Tony immediately knew what they were.

His mind flashed back to that first night he’d arrived in Malibu. Howard had said he sent him letters, these were the ones.

It had made him upset when he found out Maria was keeping the letters from him, but holding the pile of unopened envelopes made Tony sick to his stomach. 

“What’s wrong?” Clint said looking up from the model toy cars he had been playing with.

“These letters...they’re from my dad. He had mailed them to me but I never... _never got to open them_. ” Tony stammered.

“Wow. Are you gonna read them?” Clint asked carefully.

“...later. Let’s get out of here.” He said putting the shoebox in the other box and heading towards the little steps.

Clint followed him down and Tony started to put the door back up.

“Anthony?”

Tony paused. He knew that voice immediately. It was Maria.

“Yes?” He said with a small fake smile. He was angry and upset but he tried his best to hide it.

“What are you doing here? And who have you brought with you?” Maria asked gesturing to Clint.

“I just needed to grab a few things of da- Howard’s. This is Clint.” Tony said.

“You should have told me you were coming. I don’t like having people drop in unannounced.”

“I wasn’t planning to be here long. We’re headed out  _right now_ actually.” Tony said starting to walk away.

“What did you get from the attic?” Maria asked glaring at Tony.

“I told you just some of Howard’s old stuff” Tony said in a quiet snarl, but he could feel his anger taking over him.

“Alright then. You can see yourself out.” She said passing the two boys and walking down the hallway.

Tony turned and started walking down the other way following Clint when he whipped back around.

“Why did you keep those _letters_ from me?”

Maria paused in her tracks.

“...I was angry at him. I wanted to hurt him. And it worked.” Maria sighed.

“Yeah, it did-“ Tony nodded slowly. “And all those times I asked about him...you said he didn’t want to talk to me.  _Why_ ? Were you trying to hurt me too?” 

“No of course not! You had nothing to do with it.” Maria said, starting to get defensive. 

“Yeah except I grew up thinking my dad left because he  _hated_ me...so you _did_ hurt me and I have _everything_ to do with that.” Tony spat back.

“It was a mistake. And I regret it.” Maria nodded.

“It was selfish.” Tony interrupted. “It was selfish and cruel.”

“You’re right...and I’m sorry.” Maria said quietly.

Tony stood there staring at Maria. Returning that same look painful look of disgust and disapproval that she’d given him for years. And Maria felt it.

“Cmon let’s go.” Clint whispered putting a gentle hand on Tony’s shoulder and guiding him down the hallway.

They went out to the car and sat for moment.

“You ok?” Clint asked

“Yeah,I’m good. Pop in that Aerosmith cassette will you.” Tony said starting the car and pulling out of the driveway.

“Are you uh...are you  _sure_ ? That was kind of intense.” Clint pressed.

“I know, sorry about that. She _really_ brings out my ugly.” Tony shook his head.

“I can see why” Clint nodded.

“Yeah but again, thanks for coming with me today. I was hoping it wouldn’t get too bad. And of course within the first five minutes of us getting here, Quill told you all about my old _crackhead behavior._” Tony said rolling his eyes.

“Hey don’t sweat it.” Clint laughed popping in the cassette.

He wasn’t sure if Tony was as okay as he claimed to be, but he didn’t push the matter.

If Tony wanted to sing ‘Dream On’ on at the top of his lungs then he would sing it too.

********

Tony sat on the floor against the foot of his bed surrounded by years worth of envelopes and letters.

He’d been reading them for almost two hours and still had a few left. Howard’s desperation to get in contact with him only to be barred by Maria made Tony’s heart hurt.

He had read the large stack from top to bottom and was now getting to the first letters he’d sent. The ones right after the divorce.

He opened and read one written to him when he was in second grade.

“_Anthony, _

_If I’m correct you’ll be starting second grade in a few weeks. I’d love to come and see you for your first day! I miss you and your big hugs! Love, daddy.”_

Tony opened and read the last one.

“_Anthony,_

_My goodness how I miss you! Did you ever watch Star Wars? If so tell me how you liked it but don’t spoil it! _

_I’m sorry I’ve been so busy with work, but I’m planning to come see you soon! I know daddy going away has been hard for you, but I will always be here for you. I have a room for you here in Malibu and you can decorate it however you w_ant!

_I miss you!_

_Love, Daddy.”_

Tony wiped a few tears that had escaped his eye and put all of the letters back into the box where he found them.

He then opened the other box and pulled out the cameras which were full of videos. He walked over to the computer on his desk and plugged the camera cord into the usb.

He was able to download all of the videos onto the computer. Three hours later he had edited them all into one ten minute video.

And after another hour or so he had finally finished his gift to Howard.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Super sweet chapter! Howard’s surprise birthday party!

The events of the day had worn Tony out and he had fallen asleep at the desk.

He slept there until the next morning when he heard a knock at the door. He shot up and saw the boxes still out.

“Uh one second!” He yelled as he quickly stumbled around his room collecting all of the mess he made and shoved it under the bed.

If it was Howard he didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

“Hey.” Tony huffed out trying to catch his breath nonchalantly.

“Morning sweetie” Peggy said inviting herself into Tony’s room. “The party is this evening are you ready?”

“Oh yeah super ready.” Tony nodded yawning big. 

“Are you sure? You look exhausted.” Peggy asked noticing the bags under Tony’s eyes.

“Yeah I was busy working on dad’s present and I didnt sleep much but it’s fine.”

“No. Tomorrow’s a school day, and you’ll have no fun at the party tonight if you’re tired.-“ Peggy said pulling the covers and sheets downand gesturing for Tony to lay down. “I’ll come wake you when it’s time to get ready. Come get some rest.” 

“But I-“ Tony started to protest until Peggy shot him a warning look. He decided against arguing with Peggy and laid down in his bed.

“You’re just like your father. _Stubborn_.” Peggy said pulling the covers over Tony and kissing him on the forehead before leaving and closing the door behind her.

It wasn’t long before Tony fell back asleep.

*******

Showered, Hair combed neat, black and white suit (no tie). Tony looked great and was ready for Howard’s surprise party. He grabbed thethumb drive and shoved it in his pocket and headed down to the car.

He never liked galas, but he was actually excited about this one. He drove to the venue and gave his keys to valet.

He walked in and the room was filled with hordes of people, all friends and coworkers and business partners of Howard’s. 

He grabbed a cup of sparkling grape and stood over by the bar counter for a few minutes before he heard Coulson in the microphone up on the stage. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen we ask that you quiet down and get ready to yell surprise because the man of the hour will be here in two minutes!”

Everyone lowered their voices and got ready. They waited in silence for about a minute until the doors opened and Howard stepped in with Peggy on his arm.

“SURPRISE!” The room screamed.

Howard stumbled back a bit at the surprise but soon started laughing with everyone else.

His face was absolutely priceless, Tony was glad the photographer captured the moment.

People in the crowd all walked towards Howard at once for Hugs and birthday wishes.

Tony sat at the table with Peggy and Howard.

After an hour or so, most people were settling at their tables for dinner and speeches.

Coulson gave a nice speech on what a great friend Howard was and the adventures they’d had together. He said he could never wish for a better golf buddy.

Peggy who was wearing a beautiful red satin evening gown got up to give her speech.

“Well where do I even begin? Howard and I met in college. He went to MIT and I went to university of Boston. He and I met when our schools were rivaling at a technology competition. And I remember seeing him there writing equations in warp speed on a chalkboard. And I just thought. Wow what a _nerd_. But a cute nerd nevertheless. After the competition he came over and he ended up being a rather charming nerd. We went out on a date that night and soon became really great friends. _The kind of friends where Howard snuck into my dorm every Saturday night._” Peggy winked. Howard laughed,putting his hand on his head. Tony cringed.

“But anyways we parted ways until about 10 years ago when I came to Stark Industries again. I don’t think I’d _ever_ been that nervous. And when i saw him again, he was the same guy. Still _charming_. Still _funny_. Still _smart_. Still _handsome_. And it was the best reunion I’d ever had with anyone. Howard, you’re the best friend I could ask for. The sweetest man I could ever dream of, and you and Tony have my whole heart. And...I love you!” The crowd cheered as Peggy blew him a kiss as she left the stage and came back to the table kissing Howard before taking her seat.

After the crowd died down some, Coulsonleaned into the mic. 

“The next speech will be given by Howard’s son, Tony!” Everyone clapped as Tony ran up the steps to the stage.

He took the mic from Coulson who had a smirk on his face. He didn’t know what Tony was gonna do, but he knew it’d be good.

Tony took the mic from Coulson and faced the partygoers.

“_Evening everyone!_-“ Tony started, already making the audience chuckle. “I actually don’t have a speech BUT I’m gonna take this time to give you your present dad!”

Howard nodded, smiling nervously.

“Ok good, Jarvis can you roll the tape please.” Tony said getting slightly nervous as the lights on the stage dimmed and his video started playing on the screen.

The screen went from black to being covered by a hand to then showing Tony sitting down in his chair still fixing the camera.

“Ok I think I got it.-“ Tony said sitting back in his chair. “Hey dad! It’s me, Tony...obviously! By the time you watch this it’ll be at your 70th birthday gala. _Surprise_! Ya know the great thing about turning 70 is that you don’t have to tell people you’re _69_ anymore!” Tony cackled in the video and people in the crowd did too. Howard laughed and shook his head.

“Anyyyway, I couldn’t really figure out what to get you sooo I hope you like this!”

The screen went black before fading into a video of Tony when he was around six months old.

A much younger looking Howard had sat the camera on the counter and videoed the two of them. He was holding Tony facing the camera.

“Say hi to the camera Tony! Say hiiii.” Howard said waving Tony’s tiny baby hand.

Tony pulled in Howard’s hand to bite it instead.

“You’re just gonna eat my hand huh? Ok” Howard laughed and shut the camera off.

Tony looked at the table where Peggy and Howard were still sitting. Peggy had her hands over her heart with a look of awe. Howard’s face was completely overwhelmed with something Tony couldn’t quite read.

The next video started and Howard’s face appeared first. He was laying on the couch and holding Tony who was wearing dinosaur pajamas and smacking Howard’s chest with a teething toy.

“So this one year old here- _ow be gentle_! This one year old here is refusing to go to sleep. It’s currently eleven pm an- _Anthony we practiced being gentle remember_?- anyway he is not going to sleep. So I guess we’re just going to sit here!” Howard smiled at the camera before cutting the cam off again.

In the next video Howard was teaching Tony the hokey pokey.

“Shake it all about, Sir!” Jarvis said from behind the camera.

“Jarvis don’t sneak up on us like that!” Howard laughed, totally caught off guard by Jarvis documenting this semi embarrassing moment.

“Daddy you forgot to take your left foot out, now we have to start over!” Three year old Tony fussed.

“But we’ve done it ten times already!” Howard pleaded desperately.

“_Then you should know it_-“ Tony shook his head. “Now let’s do it again.” He said. His baby voice was too much for the audience to handle.

“He’s right you really _should_ know it by now, Sir!” Jarvis insisted.

“_Fuck you_” Howard nodded, mouthing silently at Jarvis but still complying as Tony started singing the hokey pokey again.

The video paused and Tony fussed in a voice over, “Language!”

Jarvis laughed from behind the camera and turned it off.

Tony glanced back at the table. Peggy and Howard were cracking up at the video.

The next video was when Tony was four and starting his first day in kindergarten.

“Ok are you ready?” Howard asked

“I already can count to one hundred and seven so yes I think!” Tony replied.

“Wow! Ok well give daddy a hug!” Howard leaned down and Tony wrapped his arms around him and laid his head on Howard’s shoulder.

He gave Howard a kiss on the face before going inside the classroom.

He waved back before the camera cut off.

Howard had a big soft smile on his face and Peggy had laid her head on his shoulder. They were more than enjoying the video. There were a few clips left. 

In the next video Tony was six. That was the year his parents divorced. Howard had taught him how to ride a bike two months before left for Malibu.

“Ok Dad are you ready?” Tony asked, smiling big through his missing teeth.

“Yes I’m ready!” 

Tony pushed off and pedaled fast on his red bike that he convinced Howard to take the training wheels off of.

“There you go! Nice job!” Howard exclaimed from behind the camera.

Tony circled back around and stopped a few feet in front of the camera slapping a high five with his dad.

“Great job Tony! I’m so proud of you.” 

“Thanks but I went too fast on the curve and I peed a little.” Tony said with a huge toothless grin on his face, making Howard crack up before turning off the camera.

The crowd got a huge kick out of that as the video moved back to present time Tony. 

“So this video is almost over but I uh...kinda noticed two recurring themes in a lot of those videos. Look at this.”

The screen went to a 15 second super cut of Tony from ages 2-6 surrounded by messes he’d made, and hands covered in various substances, and getting caught red handed in things he wasn’t supposed to mess with. Even a few videos of him crying from the end results of his mess.

The audio was even funnier. Every video consisted of:

“_Tony what are you doing?” _

_“Tony what is this mess you’ve made?”_

_“Tony were you supposed to play with that?”_

“_Tony what is this?”_

_“Anthony, put that down!”_

_“You aren’t supposed to eat those Tony!”_

Everyone seemed to find a that fairly amusing. 

The screen went back to present time Tony.

“So that’s one thing. Here’s the last one.”

The screen went to one more supercut but this time in each video it was Tony hugging Howard. 

Some where Tony was running to Howard and would jump into his arms.

“_There’s my boy!”_

Some where Tony was in his lap and would snuggle up to him.

“_Goodnight_.” 

Some where Howard had hugged him after big achievements like winning the first grade science fair.

“_I’m proud of you, son!”_

And others where Tony hugged Howard after getting home from work.

“_Hey big guy, I missed you!_” Howard said bending down to hug Tony.

The last video was of himjumping on Howard’s back and kissing him on the cheek. 

The screen cut back to 17yr old Tony.

“Happy 70th Birthday Dad! I hope you liked this. Thanks for being there for me then. And thanks for being here for me now. I love you!” Tony said with a smile before reaching to turn the camera off.

The screen went black and the room applauded. 

Howard met Tony in the middle of the stage and wrapped him in a tight hug. He gave him a kiss on the forehead before pulling away and grabbing the mic off the stand. He kept Tony under his arm as he started a small speech.

“Well...that’s enough crying for one evening.-“ he said making the audience laugh.

“I’d like to say thank you to Peggy and Coulson for putting this together. I love you both dearly. Thank you all for your kind words and coming out tonight. I’m very grateful to all of you for your friendship and presence. I hope you all have a safe trip home!” He smiled and hung the mic back up as the room cheered one last time. 

After the applause died down Howard turned to Tony and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You!” Howard smiled.

“Me.” Tony smiled nervously.

“That was the...most amazinggift I’ve ever received. You are the sweetest, kindest young man-“ Howard said with such sincerity and then paused. “I know that goes against your aesthetic, but it’s true” he chuckled.

“I’m glad you liked it.” Tony smiled.

“I loved it! How did you even-“

“_You don’t wanna know._” Tony shook his head.

“I’ll take your word for it!-“ Howard chuckled. The two waved until most of the people had left the room. Peggy was outside probably seeing people out.

“I have one more thing for you actually.”Tony said hopping off the stage and going to the table they had been sitting at.

“What in the world, Tony?” Howard shook his head as he crawled under the table and disappeared under the white table cloth.

He re-emerged with a gift bag and walked it over to the edge of the stage where Howard had sat down.

“Here you go” Tony said handing the bag over and sitting next to him.

Howard pulled a picture frame out of the bag. In the frame was a picture of him, Tony, and Peggy on the beach a few weeks ago.

Howard was reclined in his beach chair flashing a peace sign. Tony crossed his eyes and bared his teeth in the front. And Peggy laughed as she did bunny ears behind Howard’s head.

“Oh my gosh-“ Howard laughed. “I remember that day! A crab pinched your butt and wouldn’t let go.” He nodded.

“Ugh, did _not_ like that” Tony shuddered.

“It was hilarious. Thank you Tony, for these wonderful, thoughtful gifts.” Howard said patting Tony’s knee.

“Yeah you’re welcome.” Tony said, grabbing a piece of leftover cake off the table in front of them. “I can’t believe it made you cry though.” He said taking a bite.

“Of course it did.-“ Howard started. “It brought back so many great memories...When you were young I had to work so much. The company was under rapid change and it was quite stressful. I had _a lot_ of bad days, but every evening when I came home you just-“ Howard cut off, fidgeting with the bottom of his tie for a moment.

“Sometimes I would find you building something with your blocks and you’d ask me to play with you. Or you’d be in the kitchen eating at the table and share your snack with me. And I remember coming in the door some nights just so tired and worn from work. I’d open the door and you’d run from God knows where, and your face would light up. And you’d give me the biggest hug. I could just feel all my stress leave. _It was always the best part of my day._”

“I remember. I missed you so much when you were gone.” Tony said sitting his plate down next to him.

“I know the feeling...it was so hard not seeing you. I truly thought I was going to lose my mind. Not a day passed that I didn’t think about you. And then all of the sudden out of nowhere, you were here in Malibu and my life just-it’s 100 times better... Though I will admit that I had to get used to seeing you when you first arrived.” Howard said with a small smile.

“Why?” Tony smiles back.

“Well..._I guess I forgot puberty was a thing_.” Howard shrugged and laughed.

“Oh my God, Dad!” Tony fussed

“You’re taller, _kind of._ You’ve got a little peach fuzz. You’re voice is way deeper. You’re _very_ moody.” Howard laughed.

“OK I GET IT!” Tony said covering his ears as Howard laughed.

“I’m just saying, it’s weird to have not seen you grow up.-“ Howard’s voice went back to being a bit more serious. “But I _love_ having that missing part of me back. I love you kid!” Howard said pulling Tony in and kissing him on the head.

“Hey boys, sorry that took so long.-“ Peggy said walking in the room, looking tired but elated. “When Jan and I get to talking we don’t stop. What are you two doing?” She said leaning her side against the stage.

“Lecturing Tony about puberty!” Howard laughed as Tony quickly pulled away and crawled back under the table.

“Fun! You know, seeing the difference between Tony in the videos and Tony now? It’s uncanny!” Peggy shook her head.

“That’s what I said! Did you hear his little Voice?“ Howard gushed. 

“Yeah and now your voice is so deep!” Peggy agreed.

“-And he was so smiley all the time!” Howard added.

“Yeah...now you’re kind of moody!” Peggy laughed.

“ I am not moody!” Tony protestedpeeking his head from under the tablecloth.

“_Mmm_....” Howard furrowed his brow and shook his head.

“_Wellllll_-“ Peggy tilted her head to the side.

“Change_. _The_. Subject_!-” Tony fussed “talk about your trip to New York or something!” Crawling out and standing to his feet.

Howard and Jarvis were going on a three day business trip and Peggy was tagging along. Tony would have the house to himself.

“Oh _lord_-“ Howard closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know how I feel about leaving you home alone for three days.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be good.” Tony smirked as they walked out of the building.

“I’m not confident in or convinced by your answer” Howard laughed, holding the door open for Peggy.

“Well work on your confidence because you leave in two days!” Tony skipped away to the car where Happy had pulled around.

“What on earth am I gonna do with that boy?” Howard laughed.

“Like I know.” Peggy laughed.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard is gone and Tony’s alone for a few days...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! If you’re reading and enjoying please let me know in the comments! I love to read them and they motivate me to post!💜 Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!

“Anthony Edward Stark, I expect the house to be in one piece when I get back. I expect _you_ to be in one piece when I get back. Don’t do anything _dangerous_ and don’t do anything _ridiculous_.” Howard said to Tony as he stood outside of the car that would take him to the airport.

“Burn the house down, break my ribs, and drive my car into the swimming pool got it!” Tony nodded sarcastically.

Howard stared at him blankly.

“...I’m just kidding _geez_. Don’t worry everything will be fine! How much trouble can I get into on a weeknight?” Tony laughed shrugged .

“You? _Plenty_.” Peggy chuckled

“_Anthony_.” Howard said bemused

“Ok ok chill I’m gonna be good I promise!” Tony said.

“...Ok, well I’ll see you on Friday morning. I love you.” Howard sighed, pulling Tony into a hug.

“Love you too. Have fun!” Tony said

“Bye sweetie. Be good.” Peggy said kissing Tony on his temple. 

“Ok bye now!” Tony grinned and waved eagerly for them to leave.

He headed back up the steps to the front door and watched the car pull away before heading back inside. 

He had some breakfast and left for school.

*******

“Home alone huh?” Bruce chuckled.

“Yes! It’s great. I actually can jerk off without worrying if someone’s gonna bust in. Been a while.” Tony nodded.

“Oh you’re not gonna invite Steve?” Bruce laughed rolling his eyes. 

“No! At least...not yet.” 

“Oh? Are things going well between you guys?” Bruce said flipping the page in the book he was reading. 

“Yeah. We call each other every night and we’ve been out a few more times since the first.” Tony gushed.

“Aw that’s good. You guys should go on a double date with T and I!” Bruce suggested

“Yeah that would be cool.” Tony nodded as the bell started ringing. 

“Cool. See you in two days to put the finishing touches SPART.” Bruce said, packing his stuff.

“Yes sir.” Tony replied standing up and going to the hall to get to his next class but decided to stop by his locker first.

“Steve! What are you doing?” Tony smiled seeing Steve waiting at his locker.

Steve jogged toward him with a smile and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to tony.

“I got an A!” 

“You got an A?” Tony’s face lit up realizing it was Steve’s chemistry test.

“Yeah! All thanks to your help” Steve said walking next to Tony back to the locker.

“Wow, I’m proud of you!” Tony grinned unlocking it and putting his books in.

“Thanks! So are you busy tonight?” Steve asked.

“Are you asking me out on a school night?” Tony gasped.

“If you say yes.” Steve replied.

“Yes. Where do you wanna go?” 

“The movies?” Steve suggested.

“Oh yeah G.I Jane just came out, we should see that.”

“Sounds good! I can pick you up at seven if that’s good.”

“Perfect!” Tony replied.

They lingered in each other’s personal space for a moment before snapping back into the reality that they were at school. 

“See you at eight!” Tony said turning back to his locker.

“_Seven_.” Steve said walking away.

“Seven. That’s what I said.” Tony said making Steve laugh as he headed to his next class. 

Tony closed his locker and turned around to see Clint with Nat under his arm.

“Uhm you wanna tell us what _that_ was?” Clint said suspiciously.

“What?” Tony tried to play it cool. 

“Uh your little _moment_ with with Steven?” Clint rolled his eyes.

“_Moment_? What do you mean?” Tony furrowed his brow.

“Don’t play dumb with us Toby!” Natasha fussed. “We’re your best friends, we want to know!”

“Ok you’re right...We’re kind of...dating.”

“WHAT-“ Clint exclaimed before Tony put his hand over his mouth 

“SHUT..._up_. And lower your voice.” Tony said through gritted teeth.

“you guys are dating?” Clint whisper yelled.

“Yeah...I mean we aren’t official or anything but...yeah.”

“Aw I’m happy for you tobes!” Nat said as the bell rang.

“Wait I’m confused...are you gay?” Clint asked.

“No, Clint.” Tony huffed.

“But you- then what-“

“I’m bisexual.” Tony replied flatly.

Nat shot Clint a warning glance that he unfortunately decided to ignore.

“...Hi bisexual, I’m Clint.”

Tony stared blankly at Clint and Natasha sighed.

“See you later Nat!” Tony said, eyeing Clint before walking away.

******

The aftertaste of blue raspberry slushee bounced between Steve and Tony as they made out in Steve’s car after the movie. 

“Hey” Steve said barely breaking away.

“Hm?” Tony said still kissing Steve.

“It’s your curfew.” 

“Aw what?” Tony whined, pulling away and looking at his watch.

“It’s 11:00” Steve chuckled laying back on the headrest.

“And I’m sure my dads gonna call to make sure I’m in on time. I can _feel_ it.” Tony nodded. Luckily they were already in Tony’s driveway.

“Well get inside, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Steve said leaning forward and kissing Tony one last time.

“Bye!” Tony said, closing the door and heading in the house.

He clicked the light on and went in the kitchen to get a drink. 

Making out worked up quite a thirst.

As soon as he grabbed a cold can of ginger ale from the fridge, the phone rang.

Tony walked over and picked it up.

“Stark residence.” 

“Third ring, what took so long?” Howard asked 

“I knew you’d call!” Tony said. “And I was getting something to drink from the fridge if you must know.”

“Hm. How was sch- what? Ok. Peggy says hi.”

“Hey Peggy!” Tony chuckled.

“Anyway how was school?” 

“‘‘Twas fine.”

“What’d you do the rest of the day?” He asked.

“Well I went to the movies with...a friend.” Tony said.

“Ahh the friend! Well make sure the two of you stay _friends_ while there’s no adult supervision” 

“Ugh dad chill” Tony said taking a sip from the can. “And Aren’t you and Peggy sharing a room?” Tony asked, knowing better than to test Howard but doing it anyway. 

He couldn’t hurt him from across the country.

“_I’m_ an adult. And _you_ are out of line.”

“Sorry. Wait- isn’t it like two o clock in the morning there? Why are you still awake?” Tony asked.

“We got in from dinner pretty late and the traffic here is a bit lengthy.” Howard explained. “Did you eat?”

Tony thought back to making out with Steve.

“Yup, sure did!” He said with a smirk that his dad couldn’t see.

“Good. Well we’re going to bed but I wanted to make sure you got in ok.”

“Yeah I’m fine.” Tony assured him.

“Ok. Goodnight, we love you.” Howard said

“Night love you too.” Tony said hanging up the phone.

He went in the living room and fell asleep on the couch. 

******

On Thursday evening Tony invited Clint, Natasha, Steve, Bruce, and T to his house. He had Howard’s permission as long as they were out by eleven.

Tony was wrapped under Steve’s arm as they all paired up to watch Scream.

“Are you scared?” Steve asked, feeling Tony move closer into his side.

“_No_.” Tony scoffed.

By the end of the movie Tony, Bruce, and Clint were all in the laps of their significant other.

“That was...a bit much in my opinion” Bruce spoke first as the credits rolled.

“You gotta toughen up dude.” Clint said closing his eyes as Natasha stroked his hair.

“No he does not.” T said leaning down to kiss Bruce on the cheek.

“Well I for one was not impressed.” Tony said peeling out of Steve’s lap and sitting up.

“Interesting.” Clint rolled his eyes as the doorbell rang.

Everyone froze.

“Don’t answer it.” Bruce whispered, eyes wide.

It rang again and T stood up to go see who it was.

“T, no!” Everyone else fussed.

“Someone’s gotta do it.” T said nonchalantly, walking to the front door and opening it.

“Oh hey! It’s just the basketball team guys don’t worry.” T yelled from the foyer.

What had to be about ten guys walked in and at least eight of them had a girl on their arm.

“Hey guys.” Bruce said from the couch.

Bruce was the kind of guy that would most likely get bullied by jocks. But Bruce was dating T and nobody messed with T, so no one messed with Bruce. 

“Hey B!” Most of them replied back.

“Hey come here a sec” Steve pulled Tony off the couch and Into the kitchen.

“What’s up?” Tony asked.

“Are all these people supposed to be here?” Steve said.

“Well _no_. But they’re T’s friends and as long as they’re out by eleven-“

“It’s 10:15! There’s no way they’ll be gone by then! And they’re meatheads, they don’t care about the rules.” 

“Ok...I’ll tell them to leave.” Tony sighed, turning around and heading out of the kitchen before turning right back around and coming back in.

“Uh...there’s more.” Tony said chuckling nervously.

“What?” 

“There’s more...people. In my living room. Like a lot.” Tony rubbed the back of his head

Steve peeked out into the living room and saw probably twenty more people.

“Where did they even come from?” He asked shaking his head.

“Hey guys.” Bruce walked in.

“Hey Bruce where did all these people come from?” Tony asked.

“Oh so what happened was, T told Logan that we were watching a movie here and then they all just randomly showed up. T can get them to leave though if you want.” He explained opening a coke.

“That would be great.”

“Ok be right back.” Bruce went in the living room. Less than a minute later everything quieted down.

“HEY YOU ALL BETTER LEAVE BY ELEVEN!” T’s deep voice boomed through the living room.

Bruce shuffled back in. “It’s been handled”

“Oh...thanks.” Tony nodded.

“No problem!” Bruce said going back into the living room.

By eleven everyone had left, and left a mess.

Somehow in forty five minutes the horde had managed to litter the first floor of the home with red cups of God knows what. 

Steve had stayed back to help clean up the place after everyone left. 

“This mess! It’s like they were racing against the clock to trash this place.” Steve said in disbelief adding cups to the large trash bag. 

“I know. I’m gonna go upstairs and make sure no one went up there.” Tony said running up the steps.

He checked all the rooms and made sure they were empty. He opened the door to Howard’s room and it was empty as well. And then it occurred to him that in the few months he’s lived there. He’d never been in Howard’s room.

The AC had been running because it was kind of chilly in there. He stepped in and took a peek.

The far wall was the same as Tony’s, a ceiling to floor glass window.There was a glass desk and a nice office chair in front of it. 

His bed was pretty large and had a plain white comforter with white pillows.

_He’s so neat and organized._

“Hey Tony, everything alright up there?” Steve yelled from the bottom of the steps.

“Yeah it’s clear.” Tony said coming out and closing Howard’s door.

“Ok well everything’s cleaned up and I put the trash in the neighbors can” Steve laughed.

“Thanks babe I appreciate the help-”

Tony was headed down the stairs and stopped in his tracks. “Uh...Steve..._I meant Steve_.”

“But you said _babe_...that’s a nickname that _couples_ use.” Steve smirked.

“It was an accident.” Tony protested.

“Mm was it now?” Steve said, moving toward the bottom step as Tony came down the rest of the way.

“Yes.” Tony said, reaching the bottom step and leaning into Steve’s chest.

“That’s a shame. I like it.” Steve said, wrapping his arms around Tony’s waist as tony leaned in to kiss him.

“Are you gonna be scared here by yourself tonight after that movie?” Steve asked after they pulled away.

“No I’m more scared of my dad finding out about that impromptu get together. That’s the first party I’ve _not_ had fun at.” Tony said

“I’ll pray for you.” Steve laughed heading out the door. “See you tomorrow..._babe_.” He winked.

Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes as he shut the door.

_I love him._


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quite a bit going on in this chapter. It’s time for the Regional Science Competition! How will Bruce and Tony place? Also some Stony cuteness happening!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know literally nothing about science so I really made all that stuff up. Sounds believable when Tony says it though!

Tony and Bruce had finally finished their project for the science competition and it was- in their opinion- a masterpiece.

Tony was headed home to tweak a few codes for SPART before the competition that weekend.

He opened the front door to the house and heard Howard on the phone in the kitchen.

He was hanging up when he saw Tony come in.

“Hey! Long time no see!” He said as Tony came over and hugged him. 

“Yeah, welcome back señior.” Tony said grabbing a cookie from the counter.

“Everything run smoothly while I was gone?” He asked grabbing and opening a large book to head into the living room. 

“Yep. Everything was immaculate!” Tony replied heading up the steps to his room to change clothes.

Once he changed, he grabbed the thumb drive and headed downstairs. He passed through the living room to grab one of the coding books that Howard had.

“Is this a good one?” Tony asked holding up a book he’d gotten off the shelf.

“Yeah that one i-“ Howard started but paused. He was sitting on the couch when a piece of material was hanging next to the pillow behind him. He pulled it out and quickly threw it on the floor with a yelp.

It was a bra.

They both looked at the bra and then at each other.

Howard’s face went from confusion to anger as quick as Tony’s went from confusion to fear.

“Anthony..._what the hell_?” Howard growled.

“ITS NOT _MINE_!” Tony squeaked out, realizing that was a dumb answer.

“..._obviously_. But whose is it?” Howard asked through gritted teeth.

“I- I don’t know.” Tony shook his head.

“_You dont know_...” Howard glared. “That’s very interesting. So you expect me to believe that a brassiere just randomly manifested itself into my living room, instead of the very probable explanation where my teenage son was home alone and brought some girl over?” 

“...yes!” Tony peeped.

“Well i _don’t_-“ Howard said standing up. Tony took a few steps back.

“Give me one good reason. _One_, why I shouldn’t kick your ass right now. We talked about this before I left. I said don’t do anything ridiculous. And what did you do?” Howard gestured to the bra.

“...OH YOU THINK- Okay dad I know how this looks but I did NOT do what you think I did! I know this looks bad-“

“Do you? Oh good because it was starting to look like you didn’t know this looks bad.” Howard snapped.

“No okay no. I did not get laid I swear! And definitely not in the _living room_!” Tony shook his head.

“Oh good to know!” Howard nodded sarcastically.

“I SWEAR I DIDNT!” Tony pleaded.

“Then you tell me what happened.” Howard said, crossing his arms.

“Okay! Well...I had my friends over last night like you said I could. But then...T’s friends all showed up and a lot of them brought girls with them. But Natasha was the only girl that was _supposed_ to be here and she would _never_ leave her bra somewhere. She justwouldn’t!” Tony explained.

“_So there was a party here_?” 

“Not on purpose! They just showed up, But everyone left at eleven! You can ask any of my friends and they’ll tell you the same thing!” 

Howard shook his head. “So when I called you last night, and I asked how things went you neglected to tell me that there was a _party_ _here_? And then when I asked you a few minutes ago and you said everything went fine?”

“Why would I _tell_ you if I thought you wouldn’t find out?” Tony asked, shaking his head in confusion with Howard’s thought pattern.

Howard sighed. “You’re grounded.”

“WHY?” 

“I trusted you to be able to make better judgement calls than this Anthony. You’re grounded for a week.” Howard said firmly.

“What about the science competition tomorrow?” Tony pleaded

“Thats the _only_ exception.” 

“This isn’t fair, I’m telling the truth! It was an accident why are you upset with me?” Tony said getting angry.

“I’m not upset with _you_ or the fact that you made a mistake. I’m upset with the way you _handled it_. A week is fair. Carry on with your evening.” Howard said sitting back down and opening his book.

Tony stood there for a minute before huffing and starting to roll his eyes when Howard stopped him.

“Roll your eyes and it’s two weeks. I’m not dealing with attitude today.” He said without looking up from his book.

Tony walked down to the lab where he was on his way to in the first place.

He worked on codes for a few hours avoiding going back upstairs.

The bright side was he completed the drive. The dark side was he couldn’t go show Bruce.

******

It was Saturday. The day of the regional science competition. 

Tony was up at six and ready by seven. He grabbed his supplies and ran down the steps for breakfast. Howard, Peggy, and Jarvis were all in the kitchen having breakfast.

“Hey there’s our champ! Are you ready?” Jarvis smiled.

“Yeah I hope so.” Tony said picking up a muffin and putting it back. He was too nervous to eat.

“Don’t be nervous! You’ll be fine and you’ll do great!” Howard smiled passing Tony and putting his plate in the sink. 

Things had cooled off between the two since yesterday and Howard was more than excited for Tony’s competition.

“You’re going to do so well, I can’t wait to see you and Bruce’s presentation!” Peggy beamed.

“Thanks guys. See you later!” Tony said drinking down a glass of orange juice and sitting it down on the counter before heading out.

He came back in a moment later and put his glass in the sink before leaving for good.

“He’s trying.” Howard laughed.

*****

Tony and Bruce set up S.P.A.R.T on their table in the gym. They set it up by a window so the solar panels would activate the machinery.

They would give their presentation in an hour and both were getting a bit antsy. Bruce picked a tiny piece of lint off of Tony’s blazer.

Tony had on a white short sleeved button up and light tan chinos. Even though the event was professional, Tony still wore blue sneakers to match his blazer.

“We look good, our project is great, we’ll do great.” Tony said with confidence that he didn’t have. 

“You’re right...but what if-“ Bruce was cut off by two judges making rounds and taking a first glance at the students projects.

“Wow! This is very interesting! Solar powered? We haven’t seen much of that yet!” One of the judges said admiring S.P.A.R.T.

Bruce’s mouth went dry and he went speechless.

Tony cleared his throat. “Thank you! We know solar powered isn’t the most common, but we’re hoping to set our projects apart from the others.”

“Well you have! I think I see top three in your future gentlemen!” The judge said walking away.

Tony huffed out a breath he’d been holding in and turned to Bruce.

“Did I hear him correctly?” Tony asked.

“I think so.” Bruce nodded.

The two slapped a high five and got ready to take their project to the auditorium.

They wheeled it on a cart and took it backstage to wait for their turn. 

45 minutes until they would present. 

******

“Next up, Mr. Banner and Mr. Stark” the announcer said as Tony and Bruce rolled spart out on the stage.

The crowd applauded but the loudest cheers came from the Valleyside High section. Friends , family, and a few fellow students who had come to cheer on the science team.

“Good afternoon gentlemen!” Judge one said. “Will you explain your featured project?”

Tony had agreed to do most of the talking and had memorized all of his answers and speeches that he may have to give.

“Yes sir. What my partner and I have created is a Solar Powered Agricultural Resource Tool, or as we like to call him, S.P.A.R.T!” Tony said getting a few chuckles from the crowd.

Bruce activated S.P.A.R.T and demonstrated how it worked.

“How it works, The solar panels collect energy from the sun or heat. That energy moves through the system and powers the electrical tier. The electrical tier is made up of easily adjustable but nearly indestructible wires and other materials. 

The electrical tier powers the resource chamber. The resource chamber is filled with water, soil, fertilizer, and weeding tools. When in motion, the faucet will water spray gently over the plants. After that it will mist a non toxic, natural fertilizer. And the faucet spout has a very small claw inside that will come out, pinpoint, and pick weeds.” Tony explained.

“Impressive! And what was your reason for designing this?” The judge

“Well, our research showed that there’s a shortage of farmers and agricultural specialists. In addition to this, the condition of the planet and it’s matter is slowly declining. Mr. Banner and I believe that not only will this design make up for the missing physical work of farmers, but that S.P.A.R.T has the potential to mend and turn the decline around.” 

“Thank you gentleman.” The judge said as the audience applauded and cheered.

Tony and Bruce wheeled their project off stage and went to the back where they both collapsed. Out of breath, needing water. 

“Need this?” Steve asked coming up behind Tony with a cold bottle of water.

“Please!” Tony said drinking the whole thing down.

T had brought one for Bruce too.

“Good job, baby.” T said kissing Bruce on the top of his head.

“You guys did great! I mean this thing is so cool!” Steve said gesturing to Spart.

“Thanks! I hope we place high, so we’re eligible for nationals.” Tony nodded. 

“You will! No doubt.” T said, pulling Bruce into a side hug.

“Were you even nervous, Tony?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah but only at the beginning though.One of the judges had a booger. I could see it in the light. It kind of reminded me that despite all of his degrees and accolades he’s just a person.” Tony shrugged.

“Dude that’s so wise.” T nodded.

“When are awards?” Steve asked

“One.” 

“Okay that’s in ten minutes. Are you guys ready?” T asked 

“Yeah, I guess we should get back to the auditorium though.” Bruce said kissing T on the cheek and moving from his side.

“Thanks for coming.” Tony said giving Steve a quick hug before he and Bruce took off. 

They went back in the dark auditorium and sat in the front row that was reserved for the presenters.

The guy next to Tony seemed to give him side eye as he sat down.

“Are you guys the ones with that farmbox thing?” He said with disgust.

“Yeah _we_ _are_.-“ Tony said picking up on the guys tone. “You were the one with the multipurpose lightbulb that wouldn’t turn on right?” He asked.

Bruce who had been listening to the conversation, stood up low and grabbed Tony switching seats with him.

“What’d you do that for?” Tony whisper yelled.

“Because you are not getting us disqualified over a petty argument!” Bruce fussed back.

“Alright! After 25 great presentations, it’s time to present awards.” The announcer said in the microphone.

He went on to announce tenth through fourth. Tony and Bruce hasn’t been called yet. They had definitely made top finalists.

“Now for your top three!”

“In third place, O.B Stane, with the multipurpose lightbulb.”

The crowd applauded as the rude boy went up on stage to accept his third place medal. Everyone clapped but Tony who kept his hands clasped in his lap.

Bruce snacked Tony’s arm and Tony did the smallest, fakest clap.

“In second place, Bruce Banner and Anthony Stark, with S.P.A.R.T”

The audience clapped louder for them than for the lightbulb guy and not only did Tony notice, he relished in it.

They announced the first place winner and the finalists stayed on stage for pictures.

Once they were finished Tony and Bruce hugged and congratulated each other before stepping off the stage and finding their families.

Tony had barely walked five steps before his family found him.

“There you are! My goodness you did so well! Jarvis said.

“You were amazing, Tony. I’m so proud! You and Bruce worked so hard and look how it paid off!” Howard said hugging Tony.

“Second place isn’t too bad” Tony laughed as Peggy pulled him in for a hug. 

“Not bad at all!” She said kissing him on the head and handing him a brown paper bag.

He opened it and it was two blueberry bagels.

“Oh thank God!” Tony exclaimed immediately pulling one out and biting into it.

“We figured once those nerves went away you’d be starving.” Howard laughed.

“I really am, and I’m exhausted. I’m gonna say hi to Clint and Nat real quick and then we can get the heck out of here.” Tony said taking another bite of the bagel.

“Ok we’ll wait for you!” Jarvis said.

Tony walked over to where Clint and Natasha were standing.

“Tony! Oh my God!!! You were incredible” Clint said running to Tony and hugging him tight.

“Thanks Clint” Tony said hugging him back.

“Great job Tobes!” Nat said leaning into the hug too.

“Thanks Nat!” 

Just then a flash of light clicked over them.

They all looked up to see Jarvis with a camera.

“_Sorry_.” Jarvis laughed.

“Tony we’re going out for a while to celebrate, do you wanna go?” 

“Ahh I’m _grounded_” Tony rubbed the back of his neck.

“Your dad found out?” Clint asked 

“Only after he found some girls bra on the couch.” Tony said shaking his head.

Natasha shook her head.

“Oh noooo. That’s too bad we’re gonna miss you!” Clint said.

“Well, I’ll ask him if I can go but he’ll probably say no.” Tony said turning around and walking to where his family was standing and talking.

“Hey daaaad-“ Tony said pulling Howard from his conversation.

“Oh Lord...what?” Howard said, knowing that Tony was about to ask for something.

“Well...Clint and Natasha are going out with a few of our classmates to celebrate Bruce and I winning second place. And I _know_ I’m grounded but like- _can I please please go_?” Tony begged.

Howard thought for a moment.

“...Ok, but you have to be back by curfew, _no_ _exceptions_.” He conceded.

“Really? Thank you so much, I love you!” Tony said kissing Howard on the cheek. And running off to be with his friends before he could change his mind.

*************

Tony, Clint, and Nat had gone out and had dinner before going to T’s to meet up with the others.

When they came in,T was watching tv.

“Hey guys!” T called out.

“Hey!” Clint said as he and Natasha took a seat on the couch.

Bruce was in the kitchen making a pb&j.

“Hey Tony! Want one?” Bruce said spreading jelly over the bread.

“Nah I just ate. What are you guys do-“

“Hey Tony!” Steve said coming in the kitchen from another entrance.

“Oh hey Steve! When did you get here?” Tony asked.

“An hour ago, I was on the phone when you came in.” Steve smiled.

“I’ll leave you two...to it.” Bruce said taking his sandwich to the living room.

“Wanna come out by the pool?” Steve asked.

“Sure.” Tony said grabbing a cherry coke and following Steve out to the pool.

Steve sat down and put his feet in the water. Tony kicked his shoes off before doing the same. He sat close enough to steve for their legs to touch. 

“Hey, thanks for coming today. I didn’t know you’d be there, it was a nice surprise.” Tony said cracking open his soda can.

“Of course! I couldn’t miss my emo science enthusiast!” Steve said kissing Tony on his temple. 

“I told you I’m not emo.” Tony chuckled.

“That _denial_” Steve laughed shaking his head.

“You know what” Tony rolled his eyes.

“No, what?” Steve said, being a pest.

“_You’re_ _such_ _a_ _pest_!” Tony laughed and offered the can of soda to him.

“Baaaabe!” Steve whined before taking a sip from the can and handing it back.

Tony rolled his eyes again but he knew he liked Steve’s antics.

“Don’t start!” He laughed.

“Oh IM so SORRYYY it was AN accident! Oops!” Steve said laughing and mocking Tony from the other night.

Tony pushed Steve into the pool. “_Oops_” He said sipping from the can.

“Wow...that was cruel” Steve said after re-emerging from under the water.

“No regrets.” Tony shrugged. 

Steve splashed a big wave onto Tony. Tony kicked water at Steve. Steve pulled Tony in. Tony pulled Steve under with him.

They raced from the bottom to the top pulling each other into a kiss when they got to the top.

Tony put his hands on each side of Steve’s face and Steve wrapped both arms around Tony.

“I really, really like you Tony.” Steve said quietly

“I really, really like you too Steve” Tony replied kissing Steve again.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve skip class together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this chapter! Please let me know in the comments! Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!

The next week proved to be a bit difficult for Tony. After he and Steve admitted their feelings for each other that night at T’s, they’d been wanting to spend more time together.

But since Tony was grounded, the only time the two of them could see each other was at school. 

“Hey guys” Tony said as he and Steve sat at the lunch table with Clint and Natasha.

“Sup dudes” Clint said between chews 

“Hey! How’d your English test go today?” Nat asked

“I got a B, so not too bad.” Tony said biting into a cookie.

“Nice.” Clint nodded as the bell rang.

“Oh I meant to tell you to come to T’s on Saturday, he’s having a pool party.” Clint said as he and nat got up to go to class early.

“Ok sure. See you guys later.” Tony replied.

“These are really good!” Steve said eating one of Tony’s cookies.

“_Help yourself_!” Tony sarcastically 

“Mm thanks” Steve replies reaching for another only to get his hand smacked.

“It was sarcasm, keep your paws off!” Tony laughed.

“_So conceited_!” Steve joked rolling his eyes. 

“These are special cookies. Clint got them from this shop in the mall, they’re the best.” Tony explained.

“I agree, now I kind of want some of my own.” Steve said quickly grabbing another before Tony could swat his hand.

“...let’s go get some then.” Tony suggested

“We still have class after lunch” Steve said taking a bite.

“Well I took my test already, that was really the only important thing I had today. You don’t have football practice till tomorrow. Let’s just go.”

“Tony, _you’re already grounded._” Steve warned

“Yeah until tomorrow morning! Calm down it’ll be fun!” Tony said standing up and grabbing Steve’s hand.

“Fine. But only cuz you’re really cute!” Steve conceded, standing up and following Tony. 

The two went through the hall and out the door and headed straight to Steve’s car.

Steve sat down and started buckling before he noticed that Tony was standing by the passenger door and hadn’t gotten in.

He was staring at the seat but wasn’t moving a muscle.

“Uh...change your mind?” Steve asked

“No theres... a bee in my seat.” Tony said stepping back some.

“_Oh my God, Tony_” Steve sighed, exhausted boyfriend ™️ and swatted at the bee which flew away immediately.

“I tell you all the time to put the hood back on your car and you never _listen_!” Tony said, sitting in the seat and buckling up.

“I like the top off!” Steve laughed cranking the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

“Oh Steve-“ Tony shook his head as the cassette in the player started playing ‘Our Car Club’.

“You _would_ listen to The Beach Boys! You’re so _cliche_!” He laughed.

“I’m sorry I can’t here you!” Steve yelled as he turned the volume up high.

“You’re such a preppy surfer boy!” Tony yelled

“I CANT- I CANT HEAR YOU!” Steve yelled back gesturing to his ears.

“You’re annoying!” Tony laughed.

The sun was bright and warm on the top of their heads and the wind blew through their hair as they drove to the mall.

********

Tony and Steve had been at the mall for almost two hours. They’d gotten cookies, ridden the carousel together, even went in the picture booth. 

Now they were in a department store playing around and trying things on. 

“Im _not_ wearing that!” Tony laughed as Steve held up a white button up shirt with a little blue pattern.

“You need some happy clothes.” Steve shook his head and smiled.

“If I need happy clothes then _you_ need an actual tee shirt! I’ve never seen you dress in a casual tee you’re always wearing something fancy.” Tony laughed walking over to a rack of black tee shirts.

“I’m not wearing black tee shirts! It’s not a funeral.” Steve laughed.

“Well...you don’t wear T shirts...at a funeral..._have some class Steve_” Tony said feigning disgust.

“I know that you ass!” Steve laughed shoving Tony.

“Take this.” Tony said handing the cherry lollipop that he’d been eating over to Steve who then put it in his mouth.

“I’m not wearing anything you pick out!” Steve protested. “I’m a happy person, my clothes should match!” Steve said.

“It’s honestly unnatural how you’re so happy most of the time.” Tony said

“You know what would _really_ make me happy?” Steve asked 

“_What_?” Tony asked flatly.

“If you’d put on the damn shirt!” Steve fussed

“Ya know what Steve I’ll try it on! But only if you try this one!” Tony smirked holding up a shirt that said ‘Eff you go away’.

“That’s not very nice” Steve shook his head “but only for you.” He said before Tony have him a quick kiss on the lips.

“Ugh you’re such a- _oh_!” Tony said ducking behind the rack of clothes he’d been sifting through.

“What?” Steve asked taken aback by Tony’s sudden reaction.

“Shhh don’t look at me!” Tony whispered

“What why-“ 

“_Tony_!” A stern voice called out.

He was screwed.

Tony slowly stood up and looked over the top of the rack.

“Hey Peggy what’s up?” Tony said with a pained smile.

“I could ask you the same thing. I hope you have a good reason as to why you’re not in school right now.” She said crossing her arms. “And who do you think _you_ are?” She asked eyeing Steve.

“Uh...Steve?” He replied nervously.

“And why aren’t you in school?” 

“I uh...Because I skipped out maam.” Steve pursed his lips.

“You, come with me.” She said sharply pointing a finger at Tony.

“And I suggest you go back and finish your day young man.” Peggy said firmly.

“Yes ma’am! See you later Tony.” Steve said before turning to leave the store.

“Bye.” Tony said before glancing back at Peggy who’s glare burned through him for a moment before she started walking.

Tony trailed a few feet behind.

_I could run if I tried. But it won’t do me much good, Peggy could probably tackle me if she wanted._

He followed her all the way to the parking lot and to the car silently. He had barely gotten his door closed before Peggy went off.

“Have you lost your mind?” She snapped.

“I- I can explain!” Tony stuttered. A bit nervous for his life. As dry humored and fun as Peggy could be, you did _not_ want to be caught on her bad side.

“You’d better!” She said.

“Ok funny story. You might even laugh-“ Tony chuckled nervously. 

“_I won’t._” Peggy said snatching the lollipop out of Tony’s mouth and throwing it out of his window.

Tony looked down at the lollipop on the ground and then looked back at Peggy who gave a small nod for him to start talking.

“Well, My good friend Clint brought me these really good cookies from here. And Steve said he wanted some but you know how I am with sharing! Sooo we came here during our lunch break to get more but I guess we lost track of time...” Tony said slowly glancing back up at Peggy who was less than amused with Tony’s explanation and it showed on her face.

“You skipped class for _cookies_-” she replied flatly after a pause. “_That’s_ what I got from that story.” 

“Well...I guess.” Tony said quietly.

“Damn I hope those cookies were worth it.” Peggy shook her head and reached for her seatbelt.

“I’m sorry.” Tony said half heartedly. He really wasn’t, he wanted to spend time with Steve and he got to. So yeah it was worth it.

“No you’re sorry you got caught doing something stupid-“ Peggy said curtly as she pulled out of a parking space. “This is the dumbest thing you’ve done in a good while” she said shaking her head.

“Are you gonna tell dad?” Tony asked.

“No _you_ are!” She said sternly.

Tony laid back on the headrest and went into his thoughts. He really was only upset that he got caught, but he had been having such a great afternoon with Steve.

_What are the odds that she was there the one day I skip?_

_I’ve gotta call and check on Steve._

_Steve and I were having so much fun-_

Tony’s eyes widened in internal panic.

“How long were you there?” Tony asked without thinking.

“Yes I saw you kiss Steven. No I don’t care. When I’m done being upset with you I’d like details but for now, I’m taking you to your father.” Peggy said.

**********

When they arrived at SI HQ Peggy dragged Tony into the elevator.

She didn’t even knock on Howard’s door before marching in holding Tony’s arm.

Howard was signing documents and eating Chex mix at his desk when the two busted in unannounced.

“Uh...Hello.” Howard said, mouth full.

“Hey! I brought you a gift.” Peggy said gently pushing Tony into the office.

“Hey Tony, why aren’t you in school?” Howard asked looking at his watch and then looking back at the boy.

Peggy looked at Tony expectantly.

“I may have been skipping class.” Tony said looking down at his feet and then glancing up at Howard.

“May have?” Howard asked eating another handful of Chex mix.

“...I was.” Tony fixed.

“Any particular reason?”

Tony looked at Peggy. Peggy looked back at Tony before heading for the door.

_Wow she’s really gonna leave me? _

“For cookies.” Tony sighed.

“For cookies?” 

“For cookies!” Peggy said on her way out the door.

Howard sat back in his chair and looked at Tony in silence.

Tony looked straight ahead at the desk in front of him and tried to avoid eye contact. After a moment, he looked up at Howard who was obviously trying to hold back a smile.

“Can you uh...can you give me a bit more um..._context_.” Howard said biting his lip and failing to keep his smile hidden. 

“Well, Clint brought me some cookies from the mall. One of my friends tried one and wanted more but I don’t like to share...and so we went to the mall to get more during lunch break and...we just lost track of time.” Tony explained for the second time of the day.

Howard covered his mouth with one hand and tried not to laugh, playing it off like he was rubbing his mustache.

“Hm. That’s very- _Interesting_ _son!_ Interesting story. And um...how did Peggy enter into all of this?” Howard chuckled.

“Peggy saw me in JCpenny and _dragged_ me here.” Tony said exasperated, sittingback and letting out a huff.

Howard threw his head back and let out an actual belly laugh. You’d think he was at a comedy show the way he was cackling. 

“Ya know I really don’t see the humor in this.” Tony scoffed.

“I’m- I’m sorry!” Howard wheezed. 

“Are you?” Tony said smacking his hands down into his lap.

“No! This is the most...ridiculous story I’ve ever heard and I just- my God Tony! What in the _world_.” Howard said finally catching his breath and wiping tears from his eyes.

Now it was Tony’s turn to be unamused. 

“My God...what am I going to do with you? I really have no idea at all. What do you do when your son skips school for a COOKIE?” Howard said eating another handful of Chex mix.

“Are you mad or not?” Tony asked flatly.

Howard sighed and smiled trying not to laugh again.

“Normally I would be but...the day I’ve had.” Howard shook his head. “I’m not going to get bent out of shape about a cookie Tony I’m too old.”

“Oh...ok thanks.” Tony said letting a breath of relief.

“Yeah, just don’t skip school again or I’ll let Peggy punish you.” Howard chuckled putting his glasses back on.

“So...I don’t have punishment this time?” Tony asked hopefully. 

“Your punishment this time is to sit here with me until seven pm when I go home. Had you stayed at school, you’d be getting out about now. Tsk tsk!” Howard smiled without looking up from his papers.

It was only two fifteen. It would be a long day.

*******

At seven twenty, they had finally made it home. Tony jumped out of the car and raced to his room to call Steve.

“Hello?” 

“Hey Steve it’s me.”

“Oh my God are you ok? Was your dad as mad as Peggy?” Steve asked.

Tony explained the rest of his day to Steve and hogged the phone until it was time for dinner. 

“Jarvis is calling me so I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow though”

“Ok see you! And by the way those cookies were totally worth it!” Steve said before hanging up.

Tony smiled and headed down for dinner.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Peggy have a fun lunch and catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! I have been gone a WHILE! But I’m so excited to add more chapters to this. It kind of feels like I’m not getting as many reads anymore so I haven’t been as motivated but I’d like to get back on track! Hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I love writing it! Let me know what you think! Love and Hugs, Tony_Starks_biscuits!

Tony had been typing an essay on his computer for the past three hours and only had two pages done.

Deciding he needed a break, he stood up and stretched before heading to find and pester Howard.

He could hear the voices Peggy and Howard in the kitchen playfully bickering over one thing or another.

“I’m telling you it’s  _not_ going to work!” Peggy laughed.

“ _Just hand me the screwdriver Margaret!_ " Howard fussed. 

When Tony got to the doorway he realized Howard was trying to fix the toaster which had broken earlier that week. No matter what they set it to the bread would come out burnt.

Obviously they had been at it for a while because there were pieces of charred toast laying around on the counter.

Peggy rolled her eyes and handed Howard the screwdriver.

“Why don’t we just...get a new toaster?” Tony asked walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge to find some lunch. 

“Because the CEO of a world renowned engineering company feels the need to prove himself through fixing _a toaster_.” Peggy answered before Howard could.

“He’s obviously too busy for our wonderful company-“ Peggy said, playfully cutting her eyes at Howard. “-I’m headed out to get some lunch, do you want to ride out with me? 

“Yeah let me throw some clothes on, be right back.” Tony agreed. He hadn’t been able to find lunch anyway.

******

“Are you almost done with your essay?” Peggy asked, before taking a sip of her drink.

“_I’m on page three of six_.” Tony said flatly, eating a fry. They ended up at in-n-out.

“Oh boy. What’s it on again?” 

“Basically it’s an observation project. I have to pick three people and collect two pages worth of personality and behavior that each person exhibits..._Sounds easier than it is._” Tony explained.

“Oh that sounds interesting! Who’d you pick?”

She asked.

“You, Dad, and-“ Tony paused for a moment, but remembered Peggy had already met Steve. (Albeit under unfortunate circumstances)

“...Steve.” He said with a small smile.

“Ah, and what information do you have about the three of us so far?” Peggy chuckled.

“Well yours is the only one I finished. But for youuuu...”

“I’m getting nervous.” Peggy laughed.

“I’ve noticed that you’re British!” Tony said pointing a fry at her before biting into it.

“_Oh have you_?” 

“As a matter of fact I have! And you have a drysense of humor and sarcastic way of speech that I very much appreciate..._most of the time anyway.-_” Tony said. 

“So I’m told.” Peggy nodded with a smile.

“Yeah, you’re kind of an interesting person Peggy. You’re really kind and sweet and stuff but like...you could probably beat up my dad if you wanted. You know what I’m saying?” Tony said, making them both laugh.

“Ok first of all, I’m flattered. Second... i did punch Howard a few times back in the day and I could definitely beat him if I wanted to, but i wouldnt!”

“Well he should really thank his lucky stars. I’ve also noticed that you’re a fast walker and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without heels so I don’t know how tall you _actually_ are.” Tony said squinting at Peggy.

“And you never will!” Peggy laughed.

“I’m going to buy you a pair of _these_ for your birthday-“ Tony stuck his foot from under the the table revealing his favorite pair of black and white chucks. “And you _have_ to wear them!” 

“_No_! Absolutely no way in hell!” Peggy protested cracking up at the mere thought.

“You gotta!”

“No!

“Yes! It cant be comfortable wearing heels all the time Peggy!” Tony fussed.

“You know what? Blame my mother, she stayed on my case to be ladylike my entire childhood and this is the result!” Peggy laughed taking another sip from her straw. “I used to go out and get into any kind of dirt, mess, or trouble I could find. Scared my poor mother to death.” Peggy said shaking her head.

“Really? Please go on!” Tony smirked 

“Well, I’m not going into detail here but...I was a bit of a troublemaker. I did some crazy things-“ Peggy said rolling her eyes. “I did brother and I used to wrestle and spar when I was younger, he taught me quite a bit. And then on the other hand Ive never been one to back down from a dare. So you can imagine the kind of antics I used to get into...” 

Peggy said with a smug grin. 

“But i feel like it’s all served me well. As a woman serving in the military there were many times where I had to fight fights and take risks that my male counterparts didn’t. So I feel that I was well equipped because of that.” Peggy nodded.

“Wow Peggy, that’s really cool.“ Tony said, taking in this new information about Peggy. 

“Thank you. But enough about me, what about the _other_ two?” Peggy smiled, meaning Steve in particular.

“Well _dad_-“ Tony started with a smirk as he stalled talking about Steve. He laughed in his head about her eye roll.

“I’ve found that he’s a very..._practical_ man.-“ Tony said as they both laughed.

“Everything he does has to make perfect sense or meet a standard. _So logical_.” Tony laughed.

“Isn’t he? He’s very reasonable.” Peggy nodded laughing along.

“_Character development_” she added.

“How so?” Tony asked

“Well, Howard used to be _quite the floozy._” Peggy said placing her sunglasses on her face as she stood and grabbed the keys.

Tony almost choked on his soda upon hearing that news.

“_What?!!_” He said trying to hold back a laugh and following Peggy to the car.

“Yeah, as smart and intelligent as he was he was quite the party guy. And the ladies _loved_ him let me tell you!-“ Peggy laughed buckling in. “He was just too handsome for his own good. _Still is!_”

“Okayyyy” Tony cringed.

“After a while he finally settled down and married, gained some common sense. He’s much more responsible now.” Peggy nodded.

“And you didn’t hear any of this from me, understood?” She pointed at him, with the hand that wasn’t busy steering.

“Yes ma’am” Tony said rubbing his forehead and laughing internally at the thoughts of wildchild Howard.

Peggy cleared her throat and glanced expectantly at Tony.

“_What_?”Tony said feigning innocence.

“There’s still one person we haven’t discussed yet...” Peggy pushed.

“Steve?” Tony offered.

“Steve!” Peggy repeated affirmatively 

“Well let’s see Steve is-“

“_Uh uh_ start at the beginning please! When did you meet Steve?”

“Funny story actually.” Tony chuckled. “Remember that fight I got into at the beginning of the semester?”

“Yes and those terrible bruises you had! Ugh I wanted to _punch_ whoever did that to you.” Peggy said.

Tony pursed his lips and looked at Peggy.

“_Tony_...”

He scratched the back of his head and averted his gaze.

“TONY! Is that the same boy?” 

“Ok _listen_-“

“Oh my god Tony!” 

“Listennn it sounds worse than it is ok? We got off on the wrong foot, big deal! We’ve moved on. We started talking during our lunches we had as punishment and then we were friends... then we were a little more than that” Tony explained 

“So you beat each other up...and then started dating?” Peggy asked trying her best to make sense of the matter.

“Yeah see it’s not as complicated as it sounds!” Tony cheered

“_Interesting_...so how long have you two been dating?” 

“We’ve been going out for a month.” Tony smiled which made Peggy roll her eyes and grin too.

“Are you exclusive?” She grinned.

“Not yet...but close.” Tony nodded.

“And what is he like?” Peggy asked.

“Oh my god well for _starters_ he’s great at _everything_! He’s captain ofthe football team, an artist, he can surf, he’s just so talented. The first day we actually started talking he showed me some of his drawings. He goes to this place called lookout point and sketches the sunset from different angles each time. It’s really amazing. He’s got such an artistic eye. 

Like one time we were reading on the lawn in front of the library and this ladybug landed on my knee. He took a picture and went on and on about how the ladybug was an accent in the photo and how my knee showing through the hole in my jeans gave it aesthetic or something I don’t know. I could just listen to him talk for _hours_.

And he’s hilarious! One time we were walking down the street and a bunch of sprinklers went off in someone’s yard an- oh, we’re home...” Tony chuckled.

“You can take a breath now!” Peggy laughed as they got out of the car.

“I’m very happy for you sweetie, I can’t wait to meet him..._again_!” She laughed as she opened the back door.

Tony cringed thinking about that awful first meeting between Steve and Peggy. 

“Hey you two!” Howard said standing up from his seat at the counter.

“Hey dad, you...fixed the toaster?” Tony asked noticing the perfectly golden pieces of toast on the counter.

“I sure did! I told you I could.” Howard stated proudly.

“We never doubted you honey!” Peggy said stealing a quick kiss.

“I still don’t know why we couldn’t buy a new one.” Tony shrugged looking back up at him.

“Because I like this one!” Howard said stubbornly before taking a sip of Peggys drink.

Tony shook his head and headed out of the kitchen. He had an essay to finish. And now he had another thing to put under Howard’s name. _Stubborn_.

_Refuses to buy a new toaster._ _Not as practical as I thought._


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony ends up coming out to Howard. How will his dad take the news?

Tony slipped through the front door at 11:03

He’d been doing fairly well with his curfew, never coming in more than ten minutes late.

He closed the door quietly and headed into the kitchen for a bottle of water. He and Steve had been on a date that night and making out worked up quite a thirst.

As he opened and sipped from the bottle, he walked into the living room where the lamp was on.

He peered around and saw nothing until he looked over the couch.

Howard was fast asleep with a book laid over his chest. With his breaths even and his face relaxed he looked so peaceful. Tony couldn’t let that happen.

He strolled back into the kitchen and opened the fridge, grabbing a full can of whipped cream.

He quietly tip toed around to the front of the couch and tugged gently on Howard’s hand. He laid Howard’s hand flat and filled it with whipped cream before tip toeing back to the kitchen to place it in the fridge again.

When he came back to the living room Howard was still sleeping blissfully. Tony smiled and tapped Howard’s shoulder to wake him up.

“Dad! Dad wake up real quick!” Tony said trying to hold back a laugh.

“_What? What’s wrong?_” Howard asked wearily opening his tired eyes before rubbing a hand over his face and smearing whipped cream over it.

Tony covered his mouth with his hand trying his best not to cackle at Howard who had paused in confusion.

“Wh- _Really Tony?!_” Howard said sitting up and wiping his eyes with the clean hand. “Such a _nuisance_!” Howard laughed and stood up to go in the kitchen.

Tony let out the loudest cackle at the sight of Howard trying find the sink and rinse off his face. 

“_Hahaha_” he said sarcastically drying his face with a dish towel and turning to look at Tony who had his back turned.

“Dude you really fell for it!” Tony cried.

“No _you_!” Howard said kicking Tony in the back of his knee with just enough force to make him buckle.

“Ah what the heck!” Tony laughed rolling onto his back and looking up at Howard.

“Yeah Peggy did that to me a few times.” Howard laughed.

“_Of course she did_.” Tony shook his head and got back to his feet.

“Oh my goodness Tony _what happened to you?!_” Howard asked reaching out to touch the side of Tony’s neck before quickly realizing what is was.

“What is it?” Tony asked walking to the mirror in the foyer and immediately cringing. 

_Dammit Steven._

Tony turned around to see Howard leaned against the kitchen doorframe with a smug grin on his face.

“_Well?_” He asked expectantly.

“Well! I’ve had fun but it’s time for me to retire to my quarters for the evening. Blessed dreams papa!” Tony said attempting to beeline to the steps.

“Not so fast! I thought you were going out with _friends_.” Howard said raising his eyebrows.

“I did!” Tony replied nonchalantly.

“Oh did you now? Maybe I’m not up with the times but back in my day friends didn’t give each other _love bites_...” Howard said pursing his lips.

“Hm that’s interesting dad, you’ll have to tell me more about things back in your day! I’d love to hear it, but boy am I _wiped_! I should really head on up!”Tony said continuing his walk to the steps.

“_Come to the kitchen!_”

Tony sighed and followed his father into the kitchen. He sat down at a barstool across from Howard who leaned against the sink.

“Now, I’ve given you time and privacy as your relationship with this _friend_ has come about, and I’d be lying if I said that I’m not interested in finding out who it is.-“ Howard shrugged. 

“-However, it would be irresponsible of me as your father to let you run around in the night with some mystery gal and not know who she is. Especially if you’re gonna come home with _those_!” Howard chuckled and pointed a finger at the hickey on Tony’s neck.

Tony covered his neck with his hand and leaned on that elbow. This situation could _not_ be more uncomfortable.

“You don’t have to tell me every little thing, but I do need you to explain a bit about her please.” Howard said, keeping his excitement at bay.

“...Okay-“ Tony started. He hadn’t planned to come out like this, but he really had no choice.

“Well...I don’t- _I cant_-“ Tony stammered.

“Wait why are you getting so tense? Are you alright?” Howard asked, furrowing his brow in concern.

“No- yeah I’m good!” Tony said. “But um...you should know that...” Tony said slowly.

He could feel his stomach churning and he didn’t think he could take it.

“I’m listening.” Howard nodded.

“Ok well...Uh. You should know that I’m uh..._I’m not dating a girl_...” Tony said holding his breath. His heart was going crazy fast and was ready to be broken in a million pieces.

“No?” Howard raised his eyebrows.

“_No..._” Tony hung his head.

“You’re dating a boy?” Howard asked.

“Yeah” Tony replied softly before glancing up at Howard to take in his reaction.

He looked to be deep in thought and this made Tony nervous.

“Is that why you put off telling me for so long?” Howard sighed.

“Yeah... I wasn’t sure what you’d think.” Tony said nervously.

Howard chuckled and shook his head.   


“Anthony, you never fail to surprise me.” He smiled and reached to put a hand on Tony’s arm.

“Son, there’s nothing you can do or be that will change what I think about you.” Howard shook his head. “You can date whoever you want! Guys, girls, whatever makes you happy I’ll support you one hundred percent. _I mean that!_” Howard said, the sincerity of his voice piercing through Tony.

“Thanks. That means a lot.” Tony said trying his best to fight tears back but ultimately failing.

“Hey it’s ok-“ Howard said, coming around the counter and pulling Tony into a hug.

“-I know that was tough for you. I love you no matter what ok?” Howard said.

“I love you too.” Tony said wiping away the few tears that had managed to escape.

“Good-“ Howard said kissing Tony on the top of his head before going back. “Now, I still need context and details though. Are you gay?” He asked.

“Bisexual.”

“Ah ok. And how long have you been seeing this guy?” Howard asked

“Umm about a month and some change.” Tony shrugged and wiped away the last of his tears.

“What’s his name?” Howard asked getting glass from the cabinet.

Tony thought back to the night after he and Steve’s fight. Thinking of how concerned Howard had been. He was _not_ gonna like this answer.

“Sssteve Rogersss?” Tony said slowly.

Howard filled his glass with water at the fridge and thought about it for a moment.

“Steve Rogers_._ _Where have I heard that name? Steve Rogers?_ Ste- TONY!” He whipped around. 

“The boy you got into a fight with?” He asked dumbfounded.

“I know it sounds ridiculous but _listen_ dad he’s really sweet an-“

“The guy who punched you in the face?” Howard squinted in confusion.

“Ok yes- but in all fairness I punched him too! And he’s really nice I swear!” Tony said.

Howard glared at Tony with suspicion. 

Tony looked at Howard with expectance.

“How? How did this even happen?” Howard laughed, he was so confused.

“Ok so remember when we had to have lunch together for a week?” 

“Yes...”

“Yeah well we started talking a little bit at lunch but then we found out that I tutored him after. So we had a few hours together and I guess it just kinda started there.” Tony shrugged and smiled.   


“Our first date was amazing, it was that night I went roller skating.” He said recounting the wonderful night.

“When you won the lip sync battle, I remember you telling me about that. I knew something was up! You were way too excited to win a slushee.” Howard chuckled and rubbed his forehead.

“Yeah I mean it was fun, but I was really just happy with Steve.”

“Well Tony, I’m very happy for you. I do still hold a bit of a _grudge_ against Steve...but i would like to meet him.”

“Yeah he’s really great dad. I swear you’ll love him when you meet him.” Tony beamed

“Hm. Good grades?”

“Yes!”

“Responsible driver?”

“Yeah and you’d love his car!” Tony added.

“Does he have a job?”

“Well..._no, _but neither do I.”

“Okay. Well he sounds like a nice young man.” Howard said, pulling a small ice pack out of the freezer.

“What can I say? _I have great taste!_” Tony said.

“_Clearly Steve agrees._” Howard replied handing him the ice pack.

“Dad that’s so inappr-“

“And while we’re on the _topic_-“

“_Dad_” Tony tried to stop him.

“Obviously you two _thoroughly_ enjoy each other’s company-“

“PLEASEno.”

“And that’s _fine_. But you go absolutely no further than second base, _understood_?” 

“Oh my _hell_ pleasssse stop. I DONT WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS!” Tony begged.

“I don’t care- The sex drive of one teenage boy is enough but _TWO?_ _Jesus Christ_...” Howard’s shook his head.

“OK THIS HAS BEEN GREAT BUT ITS TIME FOR BED!” Tony fussed, standing up and getting ready to leave.

“Yeah you’re right-“ Howard said looking at his watch. “We’ll finish this tomorrow!” Howard joked.

“Nooo!” Tony groaned.

“I’m just kidding! Go to bed I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Ok goodnight” Tony called out on his way out of the kitchen.

“Goodnight!” Howard replied.

On his way out Tony thought about his coming out to Howard. He felt lighter. Like he didn’t have to hide.

After these few months in Malibu with his dad, he was really starting to believe Howard when he said he loved him unconditionally. 

Tony turned back into the kitchen and gave Howard a hug. 

“I love you!”

“I love you too son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As corny as this may be, writing this chapter was very healing for me. As someone with a traumatic coming out experience, it was really important for me to write what I needed to hear when I came out. After everything Tony has been through, he deserved a good coming out story. Everyone does!❤️


	26. A few mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally updating! Thank you for your patience😭💓

“You’ll be _fiiine_. You studied didn’t you?” Clint asked tossing and catching a little rubber ball.

“I mean yeah...but I’ve never been good at English. I just have a really bad feeling about this test.” Tony said, laying his head on the back of the soft couch.

“I think you’re overthinking it dude. And if you don’t do well, it’s only one test.” Clint shrugged.

“That not very reassuring but thank you anyway.” Tony said closing his books and standing up.

“You’re welcome!” Clint said proud of his advice.

“Thanks for letting me chill here. Catch you later.” Tony called over his shoulder before leaving Clint’s living room.

“You got it!” Clint yelled from the couch.

Tony headed out and sat in the drivers seat of his car.

He laid back on the headrest and closed his eyes to think. When he used to get stressed about these things he would just go out with his friends.

_That’s not really an option anymore is it? _

Tony contemplated calling Bruce and asking if any of the basketball guys were throwing parties that night. Sure Bruce wasn’t one to party but T definitely was.

He pulled out his phone to dial Bruce’s number when it rang.   


“Hello?”

“Hey Tony! Are you busy?”

It was Steve.  
  


“Not particularly, why?”

“I wanted to see if you were coming to the game tonight.”

“Oh-“ Tony checked his watch. The game would start in an hour and a half. He wanted to go see Steve play. Maybe it would even take his mind off of things.

“-yeah sure I’ll be there.” Tony replied.

“Awesome, I’ll see you later then.” Steve beamed.

“See you later.” 

Tony drove to the school for the football game. He checked his watch.

_ An hour left until the game starts._   


He sat in the parking lot and studied his English book.

***********

Tony unlocked his doors as he saw Steve walking to the car. After the game he’d gone right back to studying.

“Hey babe!” Steve said, completely unironically at this point, sitting in the passenger seat.

“Hey-” Tony said leaning in to give him a kiss before looking back at his book. “Nice job tonight, you guys killed it.” 

“Thanks yeah it’s mainly cuz we have good defense because our offense was a bit weak tonight. But thanks for coming!” Steve smiled.

“You got it.” Tony said, flatter than he intended. 

“What’s wrong, Tony?” Steve asked.

“Nothing I’m fine.” Tony denied.

“It’s that English test isn’t it?” Steve asked noticing the textbook.

Tony sighed.

“...yeah I just really need to pass it.”

“Tony, you will pass the test! You’ve been studying for like two weeks-“

Steve grabbed Tony’s hand and held it in his.

”listen I know your grades are a big deal to you and that tests give you anxiety. But you can do it! You’re the smartest guy I know.” Steve smiled.

“Thank you, Steven.” Tony said as they leaned in for another kiss.

“One of the guys on the team is throwing a party in an hour, wanna go?” Steve asked. “Maybe it’d be good to let go of some of that stress for a while.”

“Yeah you’re right. Ok sure.” Tony agreed.

“Ok great but I’m starving can we eat first?” 

“Yes we can eat first.” Tony laughed pulling out of the parking space.

**********

Steve and Tony arrived at the party about an hour after it started and boy was it packed. It reminded him of the parties he used to go to back home.

The two stayed together for a bit, but after a while they drifted to their own groups.

“Tony!” Bruce called out.

“Ya know for you to be an awkward little recluse, I _sure_ see you at a lot of parties.” Tony said.

“Dude I know! I’m telling you I don’t know how but T convinces me to come with him every time. Want a beer?” He offered.

Tony thought for a moment. 

_One couldn’t hurt right?_

“_Sure_.” He said, taking one from Bruce. He felt a pang of guilt hit his chest but consciously decided to ignore it until it went away.

“Oh hey it’s nat!” Bruce said pointing over Tony’s shoulder. 

“Hey guys. What’s up?” She said grabbing a beer from the cooler and standing next to them both.

“Nothing much, you?” Tony replied.

“Just waiting for my boyfriend to make his rounds so we can go.” She said taking a sip from the bottle. “Where’s Steve?”

“Around here somewhere, I forgot he asked me to take him a beer. I’ll be back..” Tony said reaching for another bottle and walking off to find him.

The music blared as he pushed his way through crowds of people. The familiar smell of alcohol and sweat was heavy in the air.

The party scene was one he’d missed and it wasn’t as hard to fall back into as he thought it’d be.

An hour later, he had already had another two beers, the only difference was after months of _not_ drinking he couldn’t hold his alcohol like before.

“There you are Tony! I was looking for you, ready to go?” 

“What? No, we just got here like forty minutes ago!” Tony protested.

“It’s been an hour and a half!” Steve laughed.

“Wow really...time flies when your having fun I guess.” Tony slurred.

“Ok maybe you loosened up a bit _too_ much!” Steve chuckled, taking the bottle from his hand.

“Hey guys!” Clint said walking up to the pair.

“Sup Clint!” Tony said smacking him on the arm.

“Sup!” Clint beamed. “Whatcha doin?”

“We were actually leaving but one of us is a little buzzed right now.” 

Clints face got a bit more concerned.

“Tony, how many drinks have you had?” He asked.

“Three. See I’m good I can still count and everything!” 

“I guess you’re not too bad. I just don’t want you to fall into your old habits.”

“Clint shhhh” Tony hissed. 

“What habits? What do you mean?” Steve asked.

“Nothing Steve, _it’s fine!_” Tony said before turning to Clint. “You were the only person I told about that stuff dude! I trusted you!” Tony shout-whispered angrily.

“I’m sorry but I don’t want you to sabotage all of your hard work since you moved here, in one night. And I think it’s for the best that Steve knows too.” Clint argued.

“know what?” Steve asked again.

“It doesn’t fucking matter what you _think_. Because regardless of what you _think_, that’s still my call to make. It’s not your life it’s mine!” Tony yelled.

“Fine you’re right. You go ahead. Go and do everything you used to do! If you want to be a drunk, thieving, _delinquent_ again, BE MY GUEST! But don’t say that I didn’t try to help you!” Clint yelled back before stomping off.

Tony stood there, astonished at the conversation that had just taken place and  at the audacity that Clint had to even start it.

He turned around and walked out. Steve followed behind him.

***************

The drive to Tony’s house was silent until the end.

“How are you gonna get home?” Tony asked.

“I’m going to walk back to the school and get my car.” Steve replied shortly.

“Ok. Well thank you for driving me home.” Tony said getting out of the car.

“Sure, goodnight.” Steve said handing him the keys and turning to walk home. 

“Goodnight.” Tony replied turning to go into the house.

He closed the door behind him and checked his watch. 

_10:45. Early_.

He went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and headed up the steps.

Though most of the affects of the alcohol had worn off, he was still a bit dizzy and had to go up the steps slowly.

He walked past Howard’s study which of course on nights like this were always open.

“Hey son, how was your night?” Howard called from his desk.

“Fucking phenomenal!” Tony said sarcastically.

“Language Anthony. What happened?” Howard said looking up from his work.

“I just have a lot going right now that’s all. I’m fine.” Tony replied.

“Wanna talk about it?” Howard asked, starting to notice Tony was swaying a bit.

“Eh not now, maybe later. I’m tired so...I’m gonna go to bed.” Tony replied turning out of the room and walking to his own.

A moment after going in his room he heard a knock on the door before Howard walked in.

“No don’t wait for a reply, come on in!” Tony said sarcastically again.

Howard looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

“What?” Tony fussed after getting no response.

_He’s definitely lost his mind._

“Who the hell-“ Howard looked over his own shoulder and pointed at himself. “Are you talking to me?” 

Tony huffed and crossed his arms.

“What the hell is going on with you tonight? Because either something’s gone wrong and has you on edge, or you’ve _completely_ lost your mind. What’s going on?” 

“I told you I just have a lot going on right now.” Tony said.

“Ok well what is it that has you acting like this all of the sudden?”

“I just said I didn’t want to talk about it, are you even listening to me?”

“I am.” Howard nodded. “I am listening to you. And you sound like you’ve been drinking.”

“Okay?” Tony said.

“Okay? _Okay so yes you have or you haven’t_?” Howard asked, completely baffled at this new behavior.

After a pause Tony rolled his eyes and looked away.

Howard walked quickly walked towards Tonyand leaned in to sniff his collar. It was pretty obvious he’d been drinking.

“So you _have_.” Howard said.

“It wasn’t that much.” Tony shrugged.

“How much was it then?” Howard asked, voice still reserved.

Tony held up three fingers. “Just three beers _that’s_ _nothing_.” 

“No it’s not _nothing_! Anthony you broke an agreement that we had, not to mention the _law_.”

“Okay? I’m not the first person to break a law. I’m also not saying this was my _best_ decision but I needed a break.”

“A break from what?”

“_From what? Everything!_ This year has been hard! I’ve never been more stressed about school in my life! I’m in a relationship now! Bruce and I have to start a whole new project for the National sci comp soon! I have a lot going on.” Tony said raising his voice.

“Okay congratulations Tony you have a lot going on, welcome to the world! _Everyone_ has shit going on, that’s how it works. School is difficult, relationships are tough. Life isn’t easy, no one said it would be.-“ Howard snapped back.

“Then you should understand!” Tony fussed back.

“Believe me, I do. I understand life is hard, but when things get difficult this is not the way to solve your problems!”

“Maybe not for _you_, but for me it _works_. It was three beers it was nothing compared to what I used to drink!”

“That’s an excuse and it doesn’t make it better Anthony.” Howard said shaking his head. 

“I really don’t need you to tell me what’s good for me okay? I’ve pretty much taken care of myself for years now, I don’t need anyone’s opinion on what’s best for me anymore. I’ll figure it out myself-” Tony shrugged.

“You aren’t really off to the best start!” Howard scoffed

“Yeah because I’m the only person in the world who’s _ever_ had a drink before they were twenty one-“ Tony rolled his eyes again. “Come on, I get good grades, I had a summer job, I won second place at regionals. Sounds like a great start to me.” Tony retorted.

“Yeah it _sounds_ great doesn’t it? Because you have all these great ideas and so much potential.

And you’ve got a good handful of friends that’ll support you in your outlandish endeavors. And you’ll do incredible things and make crazy progress. 

And you’ll shake hands and take pictures with important people. And sooner than later you’ll _be_ one of the important people. 

  
You’ll be one of the important people but _damn will you be stressed and exhausted._ And you’ll turn to alcohol, _and it will ruin you._” 

Tony looked down at the floor in silence.

“You start out on top and you fall hard. It’s an easy habit to start and it’s _hell to break._” Howard said quietly before turning to leave, closing the door behind him.

Tony ran his hands through his hair and kicked his shoes off. He left the rest of his clothes on the floor and climbed into bed with an exasperated sigh.

He’d fucked up.


	27. Fixing things...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has some apologies to make and some explaining to do.

Tony squinted as he sat up in his bed the next morning. The sunlight flooding in through his patio doors didn’t help the headache he had. But at least he wasn’t hungover.

He sat and tried to remember everything that happened the night before. He had a lot to fix.

He rubbed his eyes and reached over to pick up and dial Steve’s number.

“Hello?” A voice answered from the other line

“Steve?”

“Yeah it’s me.” 

“Hey, um...can we talk?”

He heard a sigh from the other end that made him nervous.

“...Be ready in fifteen minutes.” Steve said before hanging up.

Tony gave a sigh of relief as he got up to shower and get dressed.

Once he was done he quietly opened the door to listen for voices. He didn’t hear anyone so he headed downstairs. He opened the front door and walked up to the gate where Steve was waiting in his car.

“Hey.” Tony said quietly, sitting in the passenger seat. Steve didn’t look angry but he didn’t look happy either. His eyes were covered by black sunglasses and he stared straight ahead. 

“Hey.”

“...thanks for uh-“

“_Don’t mention it._ Buckle up.” Steve said putting the car in drive but waiting until Tony buckled to pull off.

“How are you feeling today?” Steve asked

“Fine.” Tony nodded.

“Good.”

They rode the rest of the way without a word to each other. The only noise came from Steve’s radio system that played his favorite Beach Boys cd.

After another twenty minutes they pulled into an old, empty andpoorly marked parking lot that overlooked a seemingly picture perfect view of the beach. The blue water glistened as the sunshine reflected on the surface. The smell of salt wafted through the gentle breeze that blew past them.

Tony immediately knew where they were. 

“Lookout point?” Tony asked as they stepped out of the car.

“Yeah-“ Steve couldn’t hold back his smile. “You remembered.”

“Of course.” Tony replied taking in the view.

“Follow me.” Steve said turning to walk down the path. 

Tony winced and stayed in his place.”I uh...I can’t...”

“Why not?” Steve asked with concern.

“These..._These are my good jeans._” Tony said apologetically.

Steve couldn’t help but laugh. Tony had ten of the same exact pair of black jeans and he still considered one better?

Ok so you want to borrow my swim trunks?” Steve chuckled.

Tony noticed Steve was wearing trunks and a tank top.

“Sure.” Tony agreed.

Steve dipped down into the backseat of his car and grabbed a pair.

“Here ya go.” He said tossing them to Tony.

“Thanks-“ Tony said, reaching for the button on his jeans. “Turn around!” Tony fussed.

“Ok ok sorry!” Steve laughed, throwing his hands up and turning around to lean against the driver side door. He did catch a quick peek in the side view mirror.

“Ok, I’m ready.” Tony said folding his pants with extreme care and placing them neatly under the passenger seat.

“Tony they’re just pants.” Steve chuckled.

“They’re not _just_ pants. They’re my _good_ _jeans_.” Tony said walking around the car to follow Steve who was still laughing.

They walked down to the empty cove and took a seat on the warm sand. Tony tried to give Steve some space and sat about a foot away from him. 

“Don’t do that, I’m not mad at you.” Steve said, scooching over and closing the gap between them.

“Oh...” Tony let out a sigh of relief. 

“I was upset yesterday but I just...have questions. I kind of realized that there’s a lot I don’t know about you, and I don’t like that. You don’t really talk about your past much.”

“Ok, what do you want to know?” Tony offered, deciding that Steve deserved answers.

“Everything! Start from wherever you can remember.”

Tony paused for a moment to think.

“I don’t remember a lot about when my parents were together but I remember how it felt. And I know I haven’t felt..._complete_ since then. My dad left when I was six and I actually didn’t see him until right after my birthday. That was in May.” 

“Wow. That’s eleven years. Why was it that long?”

“I’m not even sure. My mom told my dad I didn’t want to see him anymore and didn’t tell me that he wanted to see me. So I thought he hated me and he thought I hated him. Neither of which was true. So I lived my life up until May angry at him and constantly fighting with my mom. And just not knowing what the hell to do about that. So I just did whatever I wanted.”

Steve stayed quiet to let Tony continue.

“I didn’t really care about school and I was an absolute _nightmare_ of a student. I was a huge partier. I drank a lot. _Like a lot a lot._ Ive done pot way more than I care to admit. I partied and slept around too much. I went to the hospital a couple times for doing dumb stuff. I was just..._a lot_. 

“Steve nodded silently. “So how did you end up here?”

“Maria sent me here to live with my dad because I was stressing her out. I was pretty angry about that at the beginning, especially because he wouldn’t let me do the shit I did before but after a while it wasn’t too bad. My dad and I get along fine. And being here with him has been really good for me. 

He’s not strict but he doesn’t let me do whatever I want either. I guess that’s what I needed. Despite my _major_ fuckups, Im a better person now. 

Clint was the only one who knew about all that because I don’t like to talk about it. But if you’re my boyfriend then you deserve to know those things.” Tony nodded absentmindedly before realizing what he’d just said.

“_I did it again._” Tony groaned.

“Yeah you _did_-“ Steve grinned grabbing Tony’s hand and interlocking their fingers. “But I’m glad you did because..._now I don’t have to!_” He laughed.

“You’re terrible!” Tony laughed.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you since we were at T’s pool but I just kept chickening out and NOW I don’t _have_ to!” 

“I hate you.” Tony shook his head and smiled.

“_Mm hm_.” Steve replied pulling Tony in for a kiss. 

The two spent the better part of the afternoon alone on the beach together. Tony could hear Howard’s voice in the back of his mind.

_You go absolutely no further than second base._

He chuckled about it but also remembered he had things to fix with his father later.

************

Tony got home from the beach that evening and went to his room and changed out of his wet clothes and into a tee shirt and sweatpants. 

He walked down the hallway to Howard’s study and listened at the door before peeking in. Empty.

He went a bit further down to Howard’s room. He could hear rustling papers and the faint sound of a radio playing. He stood there for a moment before knocking on the door.

“Come in.”

“Hey.” Tony opened the door to find Howard at his desk. He had his back turned and was focused on blueprints laid out on his desk.

“Hey, you’re home early.” Howard said glancing back at Tony before looking back at his work.

“Yeah...”

“Any reason why?” He asked, rolling up one blueprint and opening another one.

“No not really...do you have a minute?” Tony asked sitting down in a chair.

“Sure.” Howard replied rolling the blueprints up and leaning against his desk. 

“Thanks. I just...i wanted to apologize. I was- excuse my language- _an ass last night._”

Howard gave a small smile and a nod, gesturing for him to continue.

“I did a lot of dumb stuff last night but instead of threatening to send me to boarding school, you actually tried to listen to my problems. I appreciate that and I’m sorry for being a prick.” 

“You’re forgiven. And I apologize too if I made you feel like I was minimizing your problems, that wasn’t my intention.” Howard replied.

Tony nodded. “Well I guess you gotta ground me now.” He sighed.

“I should, I really should! But a punishment won’t teach you what I want you to learn.” Howard said, sitting across from Tony in his desk chair.“I have questions.” 

“Ok.”

“Were you honest with me yesterday when I asked how much you had to drink?”

“Yes.” Tony nodded.

“And what about your reasoning for it?”

“Yes...and no.” Tony said, sitting back in his chair. “When I used to stress out about stuff, I would drink and party instead of dealing with the problem. You don’t let me do that, so i haven’t been dealing with my stress at all and it’s just built up and up until yesterday.” Tony explained.

“Okay.” Howard nodded. “Thank you for being honest. The best thing you can do is find a hobby or something harmless to do when you feel burned out or overwhelmed so that you aren’t hurting yourself or doing something dangerous, but you’re still getting rid of the stress.”

“Like what though?” Tony asked 

“Anything else you enjoy. Music, movies, building, coding, whatever you like. And you can always talk to me if you’d like. I’m never too busy for you.”

“Okay.” Tony nodded. 

“Listen, it’s not easy. I understand.”

“You don’t drink at all do you?” Tony asked.

“Not anymore” Howard shook his head. “I drank way too much when I was young and it turned into a bad habit. I couldn’t go to A.A because when you’re a public figure, nothing is _really_ anonymous. It was rough, and that’s not what I want for you. Okay?”

Tony nodded.

“Good...how did you get home last night by the way?”

“Oh Steve brought me home.” Tony said.

“Oh!” Howard smirked.

“Nothing _good_ happened last night believe me. But today was nice.” Tony smiled 

“Really? Pray tell!” Howard grinned leaning back in his office chair. 

“So he took me to this place on the beach called lookout point but I was wearing my good jeans and-“

“YOU WORE YOUR GOOD JEANS? ON THE BEACH?” Howard exclaimed in surprise.

“HECK no! Steve had an extra pair of shorts so I borrowed his. But then we talked for a while because he had questions about my seedy behavior. Then I accidentally called him my boyfriend and now we’re dating!”

Howard tilted his head in confusion.

“You two are..._quite the pair_. When do I get to meet him?”

“In due time old man, in due time. When are _you_ proposing to Peggy?” 

“_That wasn’t random at all!_” Howard quipped sarcastically. “In due time young man, in due time.”

“Hm. Well I’ll let you get back to your work or whatever. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight, I love you.”

“I love you too.” Tony said closing the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to use the next three chapters to finish this first storyline. It will end with a sweet Christmas chapter and I’ll start working on New beginnings pt 2!
> 
> More updates coming soon! Grateful to all my readers💜


	28. Fixing things pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wants to fix things with Clint.

It was Monday. Tony had left Clint to cool off since Friday, but it was time to settle things. He’d intentionally passed Clint’s locker on the way to his classes to try to catch him for a quick conversation, but he’d had no luck. 

Now he scanned the the lunchroom for his friend but still couldn’t find him. There was only one other place he could be. Tony grabbed his lunch bag and headed out of the cafeteria. He went through the doors of the school and walked down past the football field and the running track, all the way down to the lower field. 

There he saw Clint shooting arrows at the big o shaped targets the archery team used for practice. 

“Clint!” Tony called out. The archer didn’t break his gaze or concentration. He kept his posture tall and firm and his hands steady on the bow and arrow.

Tony walked closer behind him, but not too close. Clint was probably still mad.

“Hey, Clint.” Tony said planting himself a few feet behind his friend. 

Clint released the arrow and sent it shooting briskly before hitting the target right above a bullseye. “_What Tony?_” He replied coldly.

“I uh- I’ve been looking everywhere for you all day.” Tony stated.

“Well. You found me.” Clint said picking another arrow from the holster. 

“Yeah... listen I wanted to apologize.” 

“..._Ok_” Clint said.

“I made a big mistake at the party...Not only by drinking and fighting with you, but pushing away one of the few people who care about holding me accountable...” 

Clint kept his back turned and stayed silent.

Tony continued. 

“I kind of have a habit of hitting rock bottom with no one to catch me because I push everyone who cares away. But that night made me remember why I trusted you in the first place. You were just trying to look out for me and I appreciate that. So..._I’m really really sorry.”_

Tony paused and waited for Clint to respond. Still nothing.

After a moment Tony sighed. “If it’s worth anything...I told Steve..._about everything._” He could hear the sound of the arrow hitting the target as he turned to leave.

“Tony, I forgive you.” Clint called out as he picked another arrow. 

“...thanks.” Tony gave a half smile.

“Yeah... you can stay if you want.” Clint offered.

“Okay.” Tony sat on the grass next to Clints arrow holster and opened his lunch bag.

The two continued in silence for a while.

“I missed you.” Clint said.

“I missed you too.” Tony replied.

**********

Tony was at the kitchen table doing homework when Howard came home.

“Hey!” Howard smiled at Tony as he walked into the kitchen and straight to the fridge.

“Oh good you’re back. I was wondering if you were busy on saturday?” Tony asked, twiddling his thumbs in his lap.

“Well Coulson will be out of town which means no golf, so I don’t think so. Why?” Howard replied grabbing a water bottle.

“Well you said you wanted to meet Steve and he’s free Saturday so I figured maybe we could do it then.”

“What if you two come to golf with me?” Howard asked.

“Oh I can ask Steve. I don’t know if golf is really his thing but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” Tony answered.

“Sounds like a plan. It’ll be nice to finally meet your _mystery guy!_” Howard smirked and danced his eyebrows.

“Oh my god-“ Tony rolled his eyes. “_Just don’t embarrass me, Howard._” He glared.

“_I won’t._” Howard put his hands up in surrender before sifting through the mail pile.

“Good. By the way do you know what year the _civil war began_?”

“I’m not going to tell you the answer to your homework.” Howard stated, taking another sip from his water bottle.

Tony glanced up at Howard. 

“_You don’t know, do you?_” He asked flatly.

“_Not a clue._” Howard shook his head as he screwed the top back on. 

“Weren’t you _just a boy?_ ” Tony laughed.

“I was not alive during the civil war! _I’m not ancient!_” Howard fussed.

“Yeah okay...”

“Ya know, I bet Steve would love to hear about last week when you fell into that big-“

“OKAY, okay, okay. Sorry you aren’t old _DONT tell him that!!_” Tony whined.

“_Good._” 

*******


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard finally gets to meet Steve!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter and New Beginnings pt 1 is complete! My goal is to have the ending posted by Friday!💜

Tony snuggled his face into his pillow and fell into an even deeper sleep. He was dreaming comfortably until he was shaken awake.

“Tony wake up! We’re going to be late to meet Steve!” Howard said, pulling the covers off of Tony.

“That’s not even until one.” Tony murmured sleepily.

Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes until they opened. Howard was looking down at him and gesturing for him to get up. 

“You’d _think_ after months of school your biological clock would have started waking you earlier by now. I think you could sleep a whole 24 hour cycle if no one disturbed you. Anyway you have thirty minutes, you know I _hate_ being late.”

“_Yeah yeah I know._” Tony said, standing up and stretching before heading for the shower.

He threw on a pair of chinos with a cream colored and black striped sweater. Steve would have a heart attack at the sight of Tony in non black clothing. 

He brushed his hair and slipped on some shoes and a watch. 

He ran down the steps and out to the driveway where Howard was waiting.

“There you are! Ready to go?” Howard smiled.

“Yep.” Tony replied buckling his seatbelt.

“Good. You look really nice, what a _contrast_ to your regular getup.” Howard complimented as they pulled out of the driveway.

“That’s what Steve’s gonna say.” Tony chuckled rolling his eyes.“He _insists_ that I’m emo.” 

Howard pursed his lips and looked straight ahead.

“_Dad, I’m not emo._” Tony said flatly.

“I didn’t say a word.” Howard shrugged.

Tony scoffed and sat back in his seat. 

“You played golf before?” Howard asked.

“Eh not really. How hard can it be though?Swing the golf stick, hit the ball. Badda bing badda boom.”

“_Golf stick._” Howard whispered with a nod as they pulled into the parking lot of the golf course. 

Tony checked his watch.

12:57 

Good timing. Howard got out and headed to the trunk to grab the clubs and other gear.

Tony went around the front and saw Steve heading over. 

“Wh- I’m sorry! Have I _died_ and gone to _heaven_? Doth mine eyes deceive me? Or is thee shadow lord Tony _Dark_ wearing colors of the _light_?” Steve laughed as Tony walked toward him.

“_Oh that’s just hilarious.” _Tony rolled his eyes. I thought I’d dress for the occasion.” He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets.

Howard shut the trunk and headed over towards the boys.

Steve turned and walked to meet Howard halfway. 

“Hello, sir! I’m Steven, it’s nice to finally meet you.” He said reaching out for a handshake.

“Howard, nice to meet you as well! I’ve heard a lot about you.” Howard smiled.

“Mostly good things I hope.” Steve chuckled and smiled at Tony as they strolled over towards the golf cart rental.

“You’re good at this. Are you even nervous right now?” Tony asked after Howard walked over to the desk.

“Oh...No I don’t really get nervous when I meet the parents. I’m usually pretty good at it.”

“Oh, hm.” Tony nodded.

“What about you?” Steve asked.

“Umm I didn’t _meet_ a whole lot of parents actually.”

“Oh right. Well I guess we’ll find out soon won’t we?” Steve smiled.

“Okay you guys ready?” Howard said walking back over, gesturing for them to follow him.

“Yes!”

“Yeah sure.” 

They all sat down on the cart as Howard drove down the little path to the first hole. Tony sat in the back but put his face over the seat so he could join the conversation.

“So Steve, do you play?” Howard asked friendly.

“Well I’m no Arnold Palmer but yeah I play here and there.” Steve said making the both of them chuckle. 

“_Why would you be a lemonade and iced tea beverage?_” Tony asked, completely confused.

“_Wow_.” Steve shook his head while Howard just sighed.

“The drink was named after Arnold Palmer, a world famous golfer, son.” Howard explained with disappointment.

“Oh. Ok well you guys know I don’t know much about sports.”Tony rolled his eyes as they stopped down at the first hole. 

Tony watched as Howard set up the ball and carefully picked a putter. Steve did the same.

“Alright, here we go.” Howard said setting his alignment and swinging, hitting the ball smoothly through the air and down close to the flagged hole.

“That was a nice shot.” Steve said, adjusting his placement to hit the ball.

“Oh don’t flatter him, he does this all the time.” Tony barked, leaning onto his club. 

“It’s called _skill_, Anthony. Now hush so Steve can focus.”

Steve hit the ball almost as far as Howard had.

“Wow I’m impressed!” Howard exclaimed, giving Steve a smack on the back.

“Thank you!” Steve smiled.

“Okay okay. It’s my turn.” Tony said stepping up and putting the ball down. 

He stood up straight and immediately hit the ball. A generous chunk of dirt came up with it. The ball didn’t get very far either.

Steve and Howard were silent for a moment until Tony turned around. 

“Good try son!” Howard said trying not to laugh. 

“Yeah!” Steve chimed in. 

“Don’t _patronize_ me.” Tony fussed walking down to hit the ball again.

“_That one._” Howard laughed.

“He’s special, to say the least.” Steve chuckled.

“Special indeed. So, tell me a little about yourself Steve! When you aren’t showing me up on the golf course what do you do?” Howard asked.

“Well I play football. I’m captain of the team at school.”

“Tony mentioned that! Are you trying to go pro?”

“I’m not sure. My stepdad really wants me to but I want to be a professional artist... He doesn’t think that art is a real career. “

“Hm. Give him some time, maybe he’ll come around.”

“Yeah maybe...but other than that I surf and very _occasionally_ play golf.” Steve smiled.

“Wow! Don’t take this the wrong way but you and Tony don’t really have much in common do you?” Howard said, cracking them up as they looked on at Tony aimlessly swinging and hitting the ball towards the hole.

“No not really.” Steve laughed.

“Well you know what they say, opposites attract.” Howard said as they hopped on the cart to catch up with Tony.

The rest of the afternoon continued the same way as it started. Howard and Steve chatting it up while Tony tried his best to hit the ball in the right direction. 

By 3 o clock they had almost finished the whole round.

“Alright Steve, last one. This will break the tie. Dont take it too hard when you lose okay?” Howard smiled.

“Thanks, but I think I’ve got this one.” Steve chuckled.

“You’re on!” Howard said pushing down on the gas. 

“TONY’S NOT!! HE FELL OFF!!” Steve exclaimed.

“Oh my goodness!” Howard said as he watched Tony sprawl out in his side view mirror. He quickly put the cart in reverse and backed up to where Tony was standing back up.

Both guys hopped off the cart and ran towards Tony. 

“TONY ARE YOU OK?” Steve said.

“You took quite a fall!” Howard said closely behind Steve. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine! Can we just play this last hole so I can take a _nap_.” Tony said exasperatedly.

“Yes we’ll be quick!” Howard agreed.

“Promise” Steve nodded.

“Alright well let’s get a move on.” Tony fussed as he stalked towards the golf cart and sat down. 

Howard and Steve shared a glance and tried to hold back their laughter as the walked back to the cart.

**************

“Well it was a very close game, but we knew all along who would come out on top.” Howard grinned. 

“It was our first time meeting, so I let you win. I wanted to make a good first impression.” Steve insisted.

“Okay! That’s _enough_ about golf! No more golf talk _please_! If you guys say birdie one more time I’m gonna go back and let that golf cart finish what it started.” Tony begged as they walked through the parking lot.

“Sorry to bore you to death, babe.” Steve offered. “Are you gonna make it to the game tonight?” 

“Of course. I just have to take a nap and change back into my..._comfortable clothes_.” 

“Ah of course! Mr. Stark if you aren’t too busy maybe you can come too.” Steve offered.

“I’d have to bring a plus one but I’d love to see you play.” Howard replied.

“Awesome. Well I’ve gotta head home but it was really nice to meet you sir!” Steve said shaking Howard’s hand again.

“Good to meet you too Steve!” Howard said before turning to head to the car.

“Well you did it. My dad definitely likes you. But he wasn’t really the one you have to worry about.” Tony chuckled.

“Peggy?” Steve asked.

“_Peggy_.” Tony nodded. “But don’t worry, she’s excited to meet you. For real this time.” He laughed.

“Ok good.” Steve smiled. 

“Yeah. OkayI’ll see you later, go home and rest up before you have to play tonight.”

“Yes sir!” Steve obeyed, kissing Tony on the cheek and heading to his car. 

Tony went and got into his car as well.

“So?”Tony asked.

“..._I don’t like him_...” Howard huffed. 

Tony’s eyes widened. “What? What do you mean you don’t lik-“ 

“Tony I’m kidding! He’s great! Better than I thought he’d be. He’s very smart, he’s a well rounded young man. Polite, funny...and he’s a very _handsome_ young fellow.” Howard chuckled.

“Right! _Ugh_ his eyes are so beautiful and his face just works together so perfectly. And wait till you see him in that uniform oh my god it just makes me _wanna_-“ 

Tony stopped himself before he went too far. But by the look Howard was giving him, he already had.

“_Anyyyyway_ I’m glad you like him. I may just keep him around.” Tony said as he laid back in his seat on the way back home.

******************

Howard, Peggy, and Tony watched as Valleyside high dominated the field.

“So you met him today?” Peggy asked Howard.

“I sure did. He’s a fine young man. Us Stark guys know how to pick em.” Howard smiled and put a hand on Peggy’s leg.

“I’m excited to meet him. I see why Tony thinks he’s cute.” Peggy chuckled.

“That’s what I said!” Howard agreed and looked over at his son. 

Tony was biting his bottom lip and his eyes were glazed over. He was practically drooling.

“_Tony_!” Howard fussed.

Tony snapped out of it and looked at Howard who was shaking his head in disapproval.

Tony shrugged and focused back in on the game. 

************

Valleyside had won the game and unsurprisingly it was Steve who had scored the winning touchdown.

Finally after about twenty minutes of congratulatory handshakes and backpats, Steve finally caught up with Tony and his family.

“Hey everyone!” Steve said jogging up to them .

“Hey babe! Nice game tonight!” Tony said pulling him into his side.

_I’m surprised you saw any of it._ Howard thought.  


“Excellent work Steve!” He said instead.

“Thank you! Ms. Peggy, it’s nice to _officially_ meet you.” Steve smiled.

“Nice to meet you too Steve.” Peggy laughed. “You played one hell of a game tonight.”

“Oh thank you ma’am I appreciate it. I hate to leave so quickly but my stepdad is waiting for me so I’ve got to get home. But it was nice seeing you guys.” Steve said.

“No worries! Come by the house sometime!” Howard said, putting an arm around Peggy and leading her to the car.

  
“If you guys play like that against south beach high next weekend, you’ll make it to the championships for sure.” Tony smiled, taking Steve’s hand.

”Thanks. Hopefully we can pull it off.” Steve said gently pulling his hands back and putting them in his pockets. Hoping Tony wouldn't notice. “I gotta go.” He smiled apologetically.

“I’ll walk you to the car.” Tony offered.

“Oh no...I’m good.” Steve said with a tight smile.

“Oh...okay. _Did I do something?_” Tony asked, feeling his heart sink down low into his stomach. 

Steve sighed taking Tony by the hand and leading him behind the locker room building.

He pushed Tony gently against the wall and kissed him softly. It surprised him at first but he returned the kiss anyway, wrapping his arms around Steve’s neck as his hands held Tony’s waist tight.

Tony pulled away after a moment. 

“_Wait_...so you’re not upset with me?” He asked.

“Baby, no of course not. I just..._I’m not out._ You know, to my parents.” 

Tony sighed with relief.

“Oh! That’s okay I understand. Don’t worry about it then, you just tell them in your own time.”

“Thank you.” Steve said, leaning in for another quick kiss before the two said their goodbyes and parted ways.

Tony walked up towards the car where Peggy and Howard were waiting. Clearly the two had found a way to occupy themselves. He and Steve weren’t the only ones who made out that night.

  
Tony’s eyes almost popped out of his head.

_WHOA WHOA WHOA PLEASE TELL ME IM NOT SEEING WHAT IM SEEING. _He thought.

Unfortunately his eyes did not deceive him. His parents were liplocked. Tony didn’t know what to do with himself.

He walked towards the car and smacked his hands on the hood to get their attention. It worked because it startled them and they immediately broke away. 

The headlights revealed a rather disgusted and uncomfortable Tony gesturing wildly and shouting at the two. They had no idea what he was saying but he was not thrilled.

He opened the back door and sat down.

“-and I was having such a good night.” He said as he reached for his seatbelt.

Peggy and Howard didn’t even try to hold in their laughter. Both were doubled over in their seats cracking up about the whole thing.

“_No class._” Tony muttered.

“I don’t know I think we’re pretty classy don’t you think?” Howard laughed as Peggy took his hand. 

“Nothing screams classy like proposing at a high school football game!” Peggy said making them laugh even harder.

Tony’s jaw dropped for real this time. 

“IM SORRY _WHAT_?” Tony exclaimed, making the other two laugh even harder. “I WAS GONE FOR TEN MINUTES!” He yelled. 

“Which was perfect timing for us. A little _less_ perfect for you!” Howard laughed wiping tears from his eyes with the free hand. 

“Wow... Well congratulations?!” Tony chuckled, still confused with the whole ordeal.

“Thank you!” They both said in unison which made them laugh again. 

“Oh my god. Are you guys _high_?” Tony cracked.

“Yes, but not in the way you’re thinking.” Peggy answered as the two tightened their hold on one another’s hand. 

“oh...okay.” Tony said looking down to buckle his seatbelt. It took a minute because it of the dark, but when he finally looked back up the couple was kissing again.

“_Excuse me_-“ Tony fussed again. The two chuckled and broke away again as Howard pulled out of the parking space.

“-you two have _nooo_ class. At least Steve and I went somewhere private-“ Tony cut himself off as he’d once again said too much.

“Oh _did you now?_” Howard asked with a raised eyebrow looking at Tony in the rear view mirror. 

Tony pursed his lips and sat silently.

“So _that’s_ where you went off to!” Peggy laughed. 

“The way you were staring at Steve’s tights all night Im not even the _least_ bit surprised.” Howard said.

“Oh my god dad I was _not_!”

“_Yes you were!_” Peggy added.

“Oh my go- I was NOT! I was _watching the game!_” Tony argued.

“Oh _really_? _Tony what was the score?_” Howard asked.

“12 to 25?” Tony guessed.

“17 to 32” Peggy answered.

“Ok I was close!”

“No not really!” Howard laughed.

“I don’t like this conversation.” Tony said. 

He leaned back and closed his eyes. A lot had changed today. His boyfriend met his parents. His parents got engaged. Everything was calm.


	30. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony spends Christmas with his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe a little late but it’s still Friday! So here’s that chapter I promised! I know it’s a while past Christmas but ya know time is a construct😭 I can’t believe this is the last chapter of the first New Beginnings storyline. I’m so grateful to everyone who has read it this far and I hope that you’ve enjoyed it! I also hope you come back to read the next installment of the storyline New Beginnings: Good Trouble which I hope to start posting in about a week or so. Thank you!  
Love and hugs Tony_Starks_biscuits.

It was Christmas Eve and the Stark house was beaming with holiday cheer. Peggy had been in the kitchen baking Christmas cookies all morning. Howard who wore a Santa hat, was also in the kitchen sneaking bites of cookie dough when he could and otherwise pestering his fiancée.

Tony and Steve were in the living room hanging ornaments on the huge Christmas tree. 

“Steve can you hand me that box next to your foot?”

“Yeah here. I can’t wait for you to open your gift from me.” Steve said with a smile as he handed his boyfriend the box.

“I can’t wait to open it.” Tony smirked, opening the box of ornaments and hanging more. “I’m glad you’re spending Christmas with us.” Tony said, stepping back from the tree and admiring their work.

Steve’s mother had gone to visit his stepfathers family for the holiday and he refused to go. So they agreed that he could stay with the Starks for the holidays.

Steve clicked the Christmas lights on and sighed in satisfaction. The tree looked marvelous. 

“Me too.” He replied as Tony leaned into a hug. He kissed him on the top of his head and pulled him in tight. 

Jarvis who was quietly hanging a garland on the fireplace glanced  over at the young lovers with a smile. He’d been given orders to keep an eye on them during Steve’s stay.

“_Something’s burning._” Steve whispered.

Tony sniffed the air as the two broke their embrace and headed into the kitchen. 

“You two, hurry and put those cookies in the oven so Peggy doesn’t know I burned these. Hurry!” Howard pleaded as he dropped the pan of burnt dessert into the trash.

Just as Tony closed the oven with the new batch, Peggy strolled back in. She took in each of their faces all with something they were desperately trying to hide.

She looked down at the counter for a moment.

“There’s a pan missing. There’s supposed to be another dozen gingerbread.” She said flatly, followed by a pause.

“_Thehs a pahn missing thehs suppohhsed teh bey anothuh dozen gingahbreht._” Tony mocked in his best (but terrible) English accent.

Steve and Howard tried to keep a straight face but when even Peggy cracked a smile they all busted out laughing.

Peggy sighed and looked over to Howard. “_You burnt them, didn’t you?_” 

“To a _crisp_.” Howard said with a nod cracking them up again.

“Good grief Howard you had _one job._” 

*********

The family sat in the living room watching the grinch and chatting through the movie.

“The grinch is way better than Charlie Brown Christmas without a doubt.” Howard argued.

“No way Charlie Brown beats the grinch any day.” Steve shook his head.

Tony groaned from the spot where he was curled into a fetal position. “Talk about something else.”

“_Excuse you_, we are having a wholesome discussion. _You’re_ just grumpy because your tummy hurts. Next time you’ll stop when we tell you to.” Howard scoffed.

Tony groaned again, thinking of all of the warnings he ignored while he shoveled down candy cane after candy cane. Before he knew it, he’d eaten the 20 pack.

Now he proved a pitiful sight, hiccuping and wincing miserably.

“I have...many regrets in _m_\- mmy life but this one t- _ahh_ takes the cake.” Tony said resisting the urge to puke right there on the floor. The peppermint taste was overwhelming.

“You need to learn that your actions have _consequences_.” Steve shook his head.

“Shut up, Steven.” Tony fussed as Peggy practically ran into the living room with her shopping bags before spotting Howard on the couch. 

She immediately averted her gaze from his blank and disapproving stare.

“...What’s all that?” Howard asked with an expectant smirk on his face.

Peggy focused on a point behind Howard and refused to look him in the eye.

“Just...some _stuff_...that I ...bought.” She explained reluctantly.

Tony sat up from his ball in the floor and joined Steve in watching how this would unfold.

“That you..._what_?” Howard pressed. “ I’m sorry I didn’t _hear_ you the first time.” He said not even trying to hold back his smile.

“I said, it’s some _stuff_ that I BOUGHT.” Peggy fussed, now looking up at the ceiling.

“What’s happening?” Steve whispered to Tony.

“They made a deal that if Peggy made another nonsense purchase that she has to go to the next World trade convention with him. She hates those events and he doesn’t want to go alone, now it looks like he doesn’t have to.”

“Pack your bags!” Howard laughed as Peggy dropped her head and sighed. “What item in this world could even be _slightly_ worth buying to lose this bet?” He asked.

Peggy sat the bags down and pulled out a buffalo check adult onesie. The other three went into a fit of hysterical laughter.

“I- I got one for everybody...” Peggy explained trying not to laugh.“It isn’t nonsense if it’s for everyone!”

“Yes it is! You still have to go!” Howard laughed wiping his eyes. 

“But look at how cute they are and our pictures will be so nice because we’ll be matching!” She pleaded only making the three guys laugh harder.

“ Howard PLEASE! I can’t go I’ll DIE OF BOREDOM!” Peggy begged.

“Nope I’m sorry! We made a deal.” Howard cracked up.

“_I’ll kill you._” She whispered.

“At least let me open my gifts first!”

“_Peggy, Peggy, Peggy._” Tony shook his head.

“_I’ll kill you too._” She mouthed silently. 

“_Ugh please!_ Take me out of my misery!” Tony replied prompting an eye roll from Peggy.

“Well?” She said.

Howard looked up at her. “Well what?”

“TRY THEM ON!” She fussed.

*********************

Tony was typing codes into his computer for he and Bruce’s new project for nationals. 

Steve was trying to make sense of the codes Tony scribbled into his old notebooks and half listening to the Christmas music coming from the stereo.

“Babe, how do you know what this stuff even means?”Steve asked, completely confused with the jumbled mess of letters and numbers.

Tony spun his desk chair over to face Steve.

“It’s not as difficult as it looks. You should code! I think you would be really good at it.”

“I don’t think so. I’m not _sciency_ like you, my brain doesn’t compute these things.” Steve shook his head.

“Oh please, Steve. You should just try it. You’re such a creative type that I think you’d come up with something really cool.”

“Maybe...I’ll try it if you try football.” Steve smirked.

“Oh I- what? Like for the team? _Steve I’ll get killed!_”

“No, _doofus_. Just with me.” Steve laughed

“Oh...okay sure.” Tony agreed turning to finish one more code before standing up to stretch.

“I love these pajamas Peggy bought but the material is so hot!” Tony said unbuttoning the onesie and letting it drop to his feet. 

“No way they’re so comfortable!” Steve said pulling the little hood over his head.

“Yeah but you’re always cold and-“ Tony was interrupted by knock on the door followed by Jarvis.

“Tony, dinner is read- TONY! Where are your clothes?” Jarvis questioned, surprised by the sight of the boy in nothing but undergarments.

Tony nonchalantly pointed down to his feet where his pajamas laid in a warm heap. 

“I got hot!” He shrugged.

“_Oh sure you did_\- Put them back on! And the door stays open!” Jarvis scolded looking back and forth at the two of them before walking away. 

The two just stood in stunned silence for a moment before Jarvis reappeared in the doorway. 

“I _originally_ came up here to inform you that dinner is served.” Jarvis huffed before leaving again. 

The boys made eye contact and fell out laughing. 

“Jarvis is a pill.” Tony chuckled, stepping out of the jammies and finding some sweatpants and a shirt to put on instead.

The two headed downstairs and joined the three adults at the table. 

“Ah there they are! Let’s eat!” Howard said as the two took their seats.

“Whoa whoa- _where are your pajamas?_” Peggy fussed looking at Tony.

“I got hot.” Tony laughed.

“_Tuh!_” Jarvis scoffed, shaking his head as he buttered a roll.

*****************

“Thanks for cleaning up boys!” Howard said standing up from his spot at the table. 

“No problem. Steve and I are gonna head out for a while if that’s alright.” Tony said, ignoring the side eye coming from Jarvis.

“That’s fine. Peggy and I have to finish wrapping gifts, make sure the two of you leave cookies out for Santa.” Howard said, grabbing tape from the junk drawer in the kitchen.

“I think you mean leave the cookies out for _you_.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“Don’t forget the milk!” Howard replied on his way out.

Tony got his keys and was about to follow Steve out the door.

“Ahem! Where will the two of you be going?” Jarvis asked from the doorway of the kitchen.

“It’s happy holidays half off at the strip club so we thought we’d see what’s up.” Tony quipped.

“We’re getting milkshakes.” Steve answered apologetically.

“Alright that’s fine.” Jarvis replied cutting his eyes at Tony. 

“Jarvis, when dad asked you to keep tabs on us I don’t think he meant stalking and harassment.” Tony sighed.

“Bring me a milkshake and I won’t say anything else to you.” Jarvis offered. 

“_Deal_.” Tony nodded, opening the front door for Steve and heading to the car.

“Maybe you should have asked your parents if they wanted ones too. Should we go ask?”

“No,_definitely not._” Tony said with disgust, turning the key in the ignition.

“Why not?” Steve chuckled in confusion.

“You don’t _really_ think they’re _wrapping presents do you?_” Tony looked at Steve.

“Wh- no- He grabbed tape! _I saw him grab tape!_” Steve fussed.

“Ok either way I don’t want to find out.” Tony shuddered. As they pulled out of the driveway.

“Now change the subject!” He fussed.

“Fine...did I ever tell you I played the baby Jesus in a Christmas play?” Steve offered.

“YOU WHAT?” Tony slammed on his brakes.

“TONY YOU CANT JUST STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET!-“ Steve yelled. “Thank god no one else is out here.”

“Baby Jesus?? Steve that’s _so_ on brand for you.” Tony laughed and took off again. “Baby stevus” 

“Stop! Stop now!” Steve laughed, dropping his head in his hands.

“Wow is there video footage of this? _Please say yes._” 

“_Unfortunately there is._” Steve huffed. 

“Where?” Tony demanded.

“At...at my house.” Steve sighed.

“Wow! We’re going!” Tony ordered.

“What about the milkshakes?” Steve said.

“It’s no longer our first priority. Which way to Steve’s house?” He asked. 

“Turn left at the light...” Steve whined. “_I shouldn’t have said anything._” 

“Oh but I’m _so_ glad you did!” Tony said following the rest of Steve’s instructions.

“This is it.” Steve said and Tony pulled into the driveway of a nice bungalow style home with an American flag hanging from the porch. 

“Wow I just realized I’ve never been to your house before.” Tony smiled.

“Well. Welcome to Casa Del Rogers.” Steve said getting out of the car and walking up the steps to the front door. 

Tony pranced behind him with excitement. 

“Why are you so excited?” Steve laughed as he unlocked the front door.

“Because! I finally get to see how you live!” Tony beamed.

“Oh my god.” Steve chuckled. “Come on in.” He said opening the door and letting Tony in.

Tony stepped into a nice open foyer which led to a living room on the left, a dining room on the right and a staircase right at the front. Just past the stairs was the kitchen.

The walls were decorated with cute family photos of Steve and his family. 

“Make yourself at home.” He said, sitting hiskey down on the side table next to the door.

Tony walked into the living room at the nice soft grey sectional couch with white square decorative pillows. 

The whole side wall was an ivory colored built in bookshelf filled with books of various sizes and a few small framed pictures. 

Tony walked through the living room and into the kitchen from another entrance. 

“Steve your house is so...cozy and familyish.” Tony said with a fond smile. 

“Oh really?” Steve said sifting through a small pile of mail on the counter. 

“Yeah. I mean look at this!” Tony pointed to a pic of middle school aged Steve kneeling in his football uniform with a helmet in hand. 

“Well. I _am_ their pride and joy!” Steve said, flipping his imaginary long hair over his shoulder.

“Clearly...” Tony said picking up a drawing of a stick family that Steve had drawn as a little kid, from the side of the fridge. 

“That’s gonna go for a lot of money some day.” Steve said making them both laugh.

“Okay where’s your room?” Tony asked smacking his hands on the the counter with excitement.

“You’re really loving this huh?” Steve laughed. “It’s upstairs, come on.” He said leading Tony through the hall and up the stairs.

They made a right at the top of the steps. Steve slowed his pace from regular speed to obnoxiously slow just to annoy Tony who was trailing super close behind him with anticipation.

“Go, you jerk!” Tony laughed and pushed him forward.

Steve laughed and opened the door. There was a desk and a swivel chair on the wall across from the door. The desk was covered indrawings and papers. There was a little desk plant next to a big cup of various types of pencils.

They stepped in further and to the left was Steve’s bed which had a tiny surfboard patterned comforter. The wall behind the bed was decorated with classic vinyls of the the Beatles and the Beach boys. 

There were also two surfboards, one on each side of the double door closet.

“Wow. You really _are_ a surfer boy, aren’t you?”

“Yep.” Steve nodded in satisfaction.

“I assumed this room would be filled with trophies and football stuff but this room is very tastefully done.” Tony said, taking in all the details and laying back on the bed.

“Well I’m very grateful to have your approval!” Steve said leaning down to kiss Tony. 

He made his way from Tony’s lips, down to his cheek and then down to his neck. Tony flipped over to be on top. He pressed his lips hard into Steve’s and bit the bottom one for extra measure. He felt Steve’s hands tighten on his waist.

Tony was moving his hand down to the hem of Steve’s shirt when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. 

“Ahh are you _kidding_?” Tony fussed, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Hello?” Tony rolled his eyes. “It’s Jarvis” he mouthed to Steve.

Steve covered his mouth with his hand so he wouldn’t laugh. 

“_Yes?_ Okay we’re coming _jeez_. Bye.” Tony hung up and sighed. “He wants his milkshake.” Tony said before they both let out a huge laugh.

“I guess we better get out of here then.” Steve said as Tony climbed off of him and stood to his feet. 

“Ah ah ah, not so fast baby Jesus! There’s still a video you’re supposed to be showing me.” 

“Oh my god I was hoping you’d forget.” Steve said as Tony pulled him up.

“No sir. Come along now.” Tony said marching to the living room.

“Wait...where’s the TV?” Tony said glancing around with a puzzled look on his face.

“_In the basement, Columbus_-“ Steve laughed. “My mom is big on more family and less screen time so we have one tv and it’s in the basement.” 

“Ah and that’s why you always want to watch a movie when you come over.” Tony chuckled. 

“_Correct_.” Steve replied as they went down the steps and into the basement which was basically converted into a comfy living room with a big tv. 

Tony plopped down on the couch and Steve rummaged through a little basket on the bottom shelf of the tv stand.He found the cassette tape and pushed it into the player.

The screen flickered and then showed a stage with an obviously youth made nativity scene.

Steve let the video fast forward until it got to the part he was looking for.

A girl ,who couldn’t have been older than twelve, played the Virgin Maryand stood next to a barely pubescent Joseph. 

“I’ve given birth to the messiah, and I shall name him Jesus!” The girl projected.

An adult had come and placed Steve in the pretend manger. The problem was that Steve wasn’t a young, newborn baby. He was two.

“MOMMY!” He shouted as he sat up in the manger. The other actors tried their best to go on and ignore the interruptions from the youngest cast member. 

“I WANT MOMMY!” He fussed as he climbed his way out and ran off the stage leaving Mary and Joseph on the stage before the camera cut off.

Tony laughed himself into tears. “You were so cute! But _clearly_ you were difficult to work with.”

“That’s how it always is. The actors look the part and have the talent but lack the work ethic.” Steve shook his head and pulled the cassette out. 

“I could watch that everyday for the rest of my life.” Tony laughed, following Steve back up the stairs and out the front door.

“Thank God it’s documented so I can never live it down!” Steve said sarcastically. “Let’s just go get the milkshakes and never speak of this again.” 

“My lips are zipped baby stevus.” Tony said walking back down to the car.

***************

Tony knocked at the door of the guest room Steve was staying in. 

“Hey, come in.”Steve said stepping aside. Tony came in and pounced on the bed.

“Whatcha doin?” Tony asked. 

“Drawing.” 

“Can I see?” Tony smiled.

Steve held out his book that held a detailed sketch of Tony with a milkshake in one hand and the other resting on the steering wheel. 

“Wow Steve...this is incredible. You drew this from memory?” 

“Yeah! Look at this one.” Steve smiled handing Tony another page.

The next one was a sketch of Peggy holding a bunch of shopping bags in her hand. The curls in her hair and the ”dammit” expression on her face was spot on. 

“Oh my god that’s hilarious. Steve, you talented son of a bitch.” 

“Oh please...”

“I’m serious! You should get paid for these! You’re incredible.”

“...Thanks babe.” Steve said with a kind of sad smile on his face. Tony decided not to push it further.

“Hey you two, it’s bedtime!” Howard said from the door. “Especially _you_! We all know you don’t like to get up.” He added.

Tony squinted at him but obeyed anyway. He couldn’t argue with that.

“Night, Stevie!” He called putting behind him. 

“Night, Tony!” Steve smiles as Tony closed the door behind him.

“Did you have a good day?” Howard asked as he walked with Tony down the hall to his room. 

“Yeah it’s been great...Honestly this is the first time it’s felt like Christmas in...forever.” Tony said.

As glad as Howard was to give Tony a good Christmas, he was still heartbroken for all of the years he missed with him.

“Well I’m glad it was better this year.” Howard smiled standing next to the bed as he watched Tony go through his nightly routine. 

“Yeah and not to get sappy-“ Tony started, shutting down his laptop and heading in the bathroom. “but it really does feel like the holidays when you spend it with your family.” 

Howard could hear the sink running while Tony brushed his teeth. 

“And it’s really cool of you to let Steve stay with us by the way.-” Tony said with his mouth full of toothpaste. 

“He didn’t want to go to New York and he’s really grateful to be here with us.” He explained spitting out his toothpaste and rinsing out the sink. 

“So you’re a real OG for that Howard Anthony Walter Stark.”

Howard chuckled to himself as his son chucked his shirt and sweatpants into the hamper.

He pulled the cover and sheets down just in time for the boy to hop into the bed.

“Thank you.” Tony yawned, turning to his side and closing his eyes. 

“You’re welcome-“ Howard replied, pulling the covers up over Tony’s shoulders and kissing him on the forehead. 

“I love you.”He said clicking the lamp off.

“I love you too.” Tony said, drifting off.

************************************************

CHRISTMAS DAY-

“Merry Christmas, Jarvis!” Howard beamed, speed walking into the kitchen and out into the garage.

“Merry Christmas to you!” Jarvis replied with aconfused chuckle. “_What are you doing_, if I may ask?” 

“Hanging the mistletoe!” Howard laughed and hung it in the doorframe of the kitchen and living room before standing back to admire his work.

“_I see_. Well good luck!” Jarvis said, handing Howard a mug of coffee.

“Than- Oh here she comes!” Howard nonchalantly leaned against a kitchen counter when Peggy walked in through the mistletoe-less entrance.

“Merry Christmas, Gentleman!” She said cheerfully taking a mug of coffee from Jarvis.

Howard let out a quiet huff. “_Merry Christmas, darling._” 

“The boys aren’t awake yet?” She chuckled.

“Here they come.” Jarvis said. 

Steve pushes Tony into the kitchen by the shoulders. “Merry Christmas everyone!” Steve exclaimed happily.

“Merry Christmas...” Tony mumbled, clearly still half asleep.

“Merry Christmas!” The adults laughed.

“Who’s ready to open presents?!” Howard asked, excitedly stirring a candy cane into his coffee.

Tony rubbed his eyes and headed towards the living room. He paused in the doorway when the mistletoe caught his eye.

“Oh.” He and Steve said in unison, leaning in for a quick kiss before heading into the living room.

Howard shook his head as Jarvis tried to hold back a chuckle.

“Life is cruel.” Howard said, watching Peggy sit her mug down and go into the living room after the boys.

“_Cruel indeed._” Jarvis laughed.

***********************

“Children go first!” Peggy announced.

“_What! Why?_” Howard whispered, face twisted up at Peggy with confusion and disgust.

“_Because I said so._ Can you act your age please?” Peggy delivered back in the same tone.

Steve carefully looked for the gifts with his name while Tony grabbed all of his in one swipe.

“How’d you find yours so fast?” Steve chuckled.

“Because I picked them up and shook them all last night and put them back in the exact spot.” Tony said without an ounce of hesitation.

“_Tony_.” Peggy sighed with an eye roll. Tony shrugged as he opened his first gift.

“That’s from Peggy and I!” Howard smiled.

“WHAT!! A NEW PLAYSTATION??!” Tony shouted. 

“Of course you’ll have to keep your grades up and no coming in past curf-“ Howard was interrupted by Peggy’s hand over his mouth.

“_Let. Him. Enjoy._” She fussed and watched Tony open the box like a feral animal.

Steve picked a thin package and unwrapped it with excitement. 

“Oh my GOSH!” Steve gasped, as he pulled out a signed record of Made in California. His favorite Beach Boys album. 

“That’s from me! We know you love The Beach Boys.” Peggy said, laughing at Steve’s excitement.

“Thank you so much! It’s going on my wall!” Steve beamed.

Tony chuckled as he unwrapped a large box.

He tore open the fender labeled box to reveal a shiny black and white electric guitar.

“Oh my god. Dad this is the same one I used to have befor-“ Tony looked up at Howard who nodded with a knowing smile.

_Ugh I’m not going to cry. _He thought to himself.

In front of him was the same guitar that Maria had cut the strings on. But it was a new one.

Tony sucked in a deep breath as he went over and pulled Howard into a hug. 

“_Thank you._” Was all Tony could say without letting loose tears escape.

“_You’re welcome._” Howard replied giving Tony a pat on the back before they pulled away.

“-so he heard me threaten the other one and boom I had a signature from each. But anyway let’s finish opening these others” Peggy said bringing the wildly entertaining story to an end.

“Wow.” Steve muttered as he tried to collect himself after hearing such a crazy story.

“Okay I’m not waiting any longer.” Howard said , standing from his spot on the couch and walking over to the tree to grab a present.

“Oh my _goodness_ Howard.” Peggy sighed.

“Ah would you believe this _very one_ is from _my_ _fiaaance_!” Howard said, just to be annoying.

“I’ll bet it’s the same present you ask for every year!” Jarvis quipped from his spot in a chair.

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. That’s what I always say!” Howard nodded as he slowly unwrapped the gift.

“You literally _never_ say that.” Tony shook his head. “That literally goes against your core values as a human being.”

“_Hush, you!_” Howard replied, opening his brand new golf putter set. Exactly what he asked for. Again.

“Oh joy! _Another_ golf set!” Jarvis muttered.

“I love it!” Howard cheered. “Thank you Peg!” Howard smiled and kissed his fiancée on the cheek.

“Youre very welcome!” Peggy replied, taking the present he handed her. The gift was wrapped the neatest and had a pretty red bow on top.

She untied the bow and opened the wrapping paper to reveal a fancy wooden box filled with a variety of english imported teas.

“I know you hate American teas.” Howard smiled.

Peggy leaned in to kiss him this time. “I really do. Thank you so much honey!” She laughed.

“Peggy, dad, This is from me and Steve.” Tony exclaimed, handing them both a box.

“_Steve and I!_” Peggy corrected, reaching for the box when Tony snatched it back. 

“_Actuuualllyyy_-“ he resisted.

“Give it!” She fussed, taking the box and tearing the paper off. The star logo on the box quickly gave away what it was. “_Tony. You didnt._” Peggy whined with a smile.

“Oh but Peggy, _I did!_” Tony said with a smirk.

Peggy fake frowned as she opened the box of all white converse. On the back of the heels, the word bride was written in pretty black cursive.

Howard’s were black with white laces with the word groom written in the same font. 

“They’re for you to wear at the alter when you get married!” Tony suggested playfully, cracking the two up. 

“As much as it pains me to say, these are _very_ cute Tony.” Peggy smiles and ran her finger over the material.

“Thank you son these are really nice! But are you sure none came with a heel on them? Peggy hasn’t walked on flat feet in fifty years, I’m afraid she might trip and _die._” Howard laughed.

“_Hahaha very funny Howard. Didn’t know I was marrying a comedian_” Peggy scoffed.

“I mean...Peggy you’re wearing _wedge slippers._” Tony laughed.

“Enough about me! Jarvis open your gift!” Peggy fussed. 

Jarvis peeled himself out of the chair and picked up a box, opening a brand new watch. 

“Audemar! You all _do_ appreciate me!” Jarvis joked. 

“Don’t get haughty! You almost got the tinker bell watch from Walmart.” Howard chuckled.

Jarvis plunked him in the head on his way to the kitchen. 

“Okay Steve this ones for you!” Tony smiled, less than gracefully handing Steve a tall heavy box. Howard leaned back with a harsh blink as it almost hit him in the face.

“Tony what in the world!” Steve chuckled.

“Ehehe open it!” Tony said, sitting it down in front Steve and trying to catch his breath.

“Okay, I am!” Steve laughed as he bent down to tear the sunglass clad snowman wrapping paper.Under the paper was a beautiful, smooth, light wooden surfboard.At the bottom end of the board Steve’s initials

SGR, were engraved.

“Wow, Tony this is so nice! Thank you!” Steve smiled.

Tony huffed and rolled his eyes. “_Turn it over stupid!_” He did find the look of confusion on Steve’s face slightly funny.

Steves breath caught in his chest as he turned the board belly side up. The whole underside of the board was a larger version of the drawing of lookout point’s colorful sunset that Steve had shown Tony at school.

Steve’s jaw dropped a bit as he blinked in surprise. He was silent for a moment too long and it made Tony anxious.

“D- _do you like it?_” He asked sheepishly. “I guess I should’ve asked you if I could take your work for it but it would have ruined the surprise.” Tony said rubbing the back of his neck.

“Tony..._this is absolutely beautiful_. I’m- I’m speechless.” Steve shook his head as he took in the full frame of the board. 

Peggy and Howard came around the back of the loveseat where the boys were sitting, to get a better look at the board.

“Wow Steve, you’re a wonderful artist.” Peggy said looking on in awe.

“He makes some great work!-“ Howard smiled and gave Steve a pat on the back.

After looking a while longer Steve reluctantly sat the board back in the box. “Thank you. I love it. I’m still kind of on cloud nine but here you open your gift now.” He said trying his best to shake himself back to reality.

He reached for a small rectangular box and handed it to Tony. 

Tony smiled and made a conscious effort not to tear into the paper like an animal.

When he opened the box there were two AC/DC concert tickets.

“Steve YOU DIDNT!!!” Tony yelled.

“Oh but Tony, _I did._” Steve replied the same way Tony had to Peggy earlier, making everyone laugh.

“Oh my god thank you! I’m _obviously_ taking you with me, but we’ve _got_ to get you some dark clothes first.” Tony laughed as he hugged Steve.

“I can’t dress like you I’d _melt_!” Steve laughed, kissing Tony on the cheek before they pulled away. 

“_Oh look another comedian._” Tony deadpanned.

“Breakfast is almost ready!” Jarvis called from the kitchen.

“Bacoooon.” Tony said, turning towards the kitchen with Peggy right behind him.

“Steve this is for you.” Howard said, grabbing one more box and handing it over.

“Oh wow!” Steve grinned as he opened the box. It was a wooden case. He opened it and it was filled with various oil pastels and pencils an paintbrushes and different kinds of paint and papers.

There was also an application for an art program.

“If art is what you love and art is what you’re good at, then you should pursue it. I think you’ll be really great.” Howard nodded.

“Wow, thank you! Thank you so so much!” Steve said hugging Howard tight before they walked into the kitchen for breakfast.

********************

The family enjoyed breakfast and the rest of the day together. Before they knew it the holiday was over.

“I wish Christmas would never end. I don’t want you to leave yet. I like you staying with me.” Tony pouted and pulled Steve into a hug out in the driveway.

“I know, so do I. But baby I’ll literally see you tomorrow at school.” Steve smiled.

“I guess you’re right.” Tony said flatly.

“Yeah. I gotta get home okay? I love you!” Steve said.

“I love you too.” Tony replied as they kissed goodbye and Steve got in his car to go home. 

He sat outside on the steps for a while longer, just to think.

He thought back to Christmas a year ago. By this time he’d been high and drunk off his ass at some Christmas party. There with people who couldn’t care less about him. His mother most likely too busy to care.

“Tony?-“ Peggy opened the front door. “_There you are_, come inside and get some hot chocolate before you catch a cold.” 

She said putting her arms around him as he stood up and followed her inside.

_What a difference a year can make._

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this fic makes my heart happy! I will be as consistent as possible with this storyline, but it will be a while before it’s finished. Once I complete the storyline, you can expect lots of drabbles/ficlets in this same AU! Let me know what you think in the comments!


End file.
